


Pixie, First Daughter of Anarchy.

by Butterfly_Wings_2020



Series: Pixie, First Daughter of Anarchy [1]
Category: Sons of Anarchy
Genre: Blood and Violence, Dysfunctional Family, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Family, Family Fluff, Fights, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Motorcycles, Smut, Sons, Strong Female Characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:26:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 90
Words: 354,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23445457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Butterfly_Wings_2020/pseuds/Butterfly_Wings_2020
Summary: Meggie "Pixie" Barcroft is the first ever Daughter of Anarchy. When her small charter in England is taken down by the IRA, twenty-two year old Pixie must flee to Charming to escape the IRA's radar and make a new life for herself. Follow her journey as she makes friends with her new Charming brothers, learns to cope with her traumas, and cause mayhem wherever she goes.*Later chapters have romance and smut ;)**PSA: THIS STORY CONTAINS VIOLENCE. I do not condone violence of any sort, nor do I share the views some of the Sons have, this has purely been written for entertainment purposes only.  I don't own the rights to any of the Sons characters on the TV show.*ORIGINALLY POSTED ON WATTPAD BY ME VIA A DIFFERENT USERNAME
Relationships: Tig Trager/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Pixie, First Daughter of Anarchy [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1758436
Comments: 264
Kudos: 74





	1. Hi, from the author!

**Hey sweeties!**

**As a long-time fan of Sons of Anarchy, I decided to write my own spin on what would happen if a female character were to become a Son. I have tried to follow the original story line of season 1 episodes as closely as I can, with a few minor artistic liberties. This way you can see the bonds developing between Pixie and the Sons, so she fits into the story better. Slowly, I'll be leaning more into my own story line for Pixie, but will make sure that major plot points for the SOA will stay the same. Please let me know your thoughts, feelings and any suggestions for the future chapters.**

**Happy reading!**

**Lulu <3**

****


	2. Pilot Episode: Chapter 1

** **

** *AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following "Pilot Episode" chapters are set the day after the gun warehouse was burnt down by the Mayans. It is roughly half-way through the first episode, (post-Wendy drama, Abel's birth, Jax finding John Teller's book, Opie deciding whether to be a part of the club again and Gemma worrying that Jax is going soft).* **

Chibs yawned and instantly regretted it. His head pounded like a motherfucker and his mouth felt like it had been dried out with tissue paper. He staggered to his feet in search of an empty glass tumbler, a rare find the morning after a Sons party. He found one under a pool table where three crow-eaters and a very blissful prospect by the name of Half-Sack were passed out in an untidy heap of limbs and beer cans. Chibs didn't even want to consider what they'd been up to. The tumbler had the remnants of a brownish liquid in it, so Chibs washed it out and knocked back a glass of fresh water from the tap behind the bar. It was then he realised, after stepping in a puddle of what he hoped was beer, he was missing a shoe. He heard groaning from across the room and looked up in time to see Tig falling forwards off of the couch and onto an unconscious body on the floor.

"Get your ass off my face before I carve it like a jack 'o' lantern." Came a low growl from under Tig, who hastily got to his feet, followed swiftly after by a bleary-eyed Happy.

"Good morning to you too, _honey_." Tig replied with his usual smirk, Happy just grunted and staggered away towards the dorms, probably to sleep off the mother of all hangovers.

"Good night?" Chibs asked Tig who was now searching for something through the pile of sleeping bodies that surrounded him. Chibs winced at the racket of his own voice, it sounded way too loud for his head.

"Oh hell yeah, can't remember a thing, and that's just how I like it.” Tig grinned, rolling his shoulders as he eased the stiffness in them from sleeping rough. “Have you seen my wallet?" He asked spinning around on the spot, checking his surroundings as he patted himself down.

Chibs chuckled, watching Tig stumble around. "Nah, ye seen my shoe?" The Scotsman queried, surveying the absolute bedlam of the clubhouse.

Tig paused from looking under a black leather couch cushion and eyed Chibs with a confused expression. "What the fuck were you doing to lose a shoe?" He questioned humouredly.

"Beats me, cannae remember." Chibs responded, taking another drink of water and giving Tig a big smile.

Tig grinned back at his old friend. "Must have been a good night for you too then?"

"Aye, though I do remember drinking cherry tequila off of someone." Chibs recalled the hazy memory, Tig snorted a laugh.

"Summunsaytequila?" a muffled voice sleepily slurred before a hand appeared over the back of one of the sofas and Juice's head and shoulders emerged with a hickie the size of New Jersey on his neck.

"Way to go, Juicy! You got laid?" Tig jeered watching the younger Son heave himself into a sitting position.

"Considering I'm naked, yeah I'm guessing so, anyone seen my pants?" Juice grumbled a little, he had to admit he’d enjoyed himself but the chaos of the clubhouse and waking up behind a couch wasn’t a great payoff, especially when he knew he’d probably be tasked with cleaning duty along with Half-Sack.

Chibs laughed heartily. "Wonder if someone's managed ta get through tha night with a complete outfit?" He mused, trying to do a headcount of all the passed out bodies in the bar area.

All three men looked around themselves at the carnage and half-naked bodies, then back at each other. "Nah." They chuckled together.

Juice went to say something when the sound of a motorbike being gunned up the road and into their lot, before coming to an abrupt stop, broke through the morning's peace and quiet.

Juice peeped through the metal blinds behind him. "Dude! there's a chick out there. She's got a Sons kutte." He exclaimed, sounding mildly excited and a little bewildered at the sight, no doubt questioning if he was still high.

"You sure it's a chick?" Tig asked, looking puzzled as he made his way with Chibs over to the window to look. The two men picking their way through the debris and stepping over upturned furniture to get there.

"Considering she's got a pink kutte, helmet and motorbike. I'd bet on it." Juice said, rolling his eyes, the older Sons never seemed to believe his judgements.

Chibs got a look for himself too, and sure enough, the figure was petite, definitely feminine. She kicked the chrome bike stand out on her Harley and sat side-saddle on the pink bike, hanging her baby pink backpack on one of the handlebars. Then she folded her arms, staring in the direction of the clubhouse. Waiting for the inevitable confrontation probably. Chibs could make out caramel skin, a pointed chin, button nose, and sparkly eyes. He took note of the bike too, guessing it was an Old Glory stunt bike, under the pink paint. The rider had long black hair which was tied up in two French braids, framing the Sons logo, the black patches and stood stark against the faded bubblegum pink kutte. Clay was going to have a field day with this.

"I didn't know we patched women?" Juice said after another couple seconds of gawking with the other two Sons.

"We don't." Tigs and Chibs echoed each other, exchanging a glance at one another, both trying to get a handle on the situation.

"Where's Highton? That's what it says on the back of her kutte." Juice queried, tipping his head to one side as he took in the complete surprise arrival in the lot.

"My best guess is somewhere in England. West Lancashire maybe?" Chibs thought aloud. It had been a very long time since he’d been to England, and tried to jog his memory so he could relay as much information to Clay as possible.

"Huh, well I guess I'd better find my pants and go get Jax?" Juice decided, looking up at the other two for direction and then got to his feet as Chibs nodded at him.

"Yeah. I'll go call Clay. Let's pray I don't get shot for waking him up early." Tig grumbled, recalling how the club president was grouchy at the best of times, but being woken up early when he no doubt had a hangover was like poking a lion with a stick.

"And I'll find my fuckin' shoe." Chibs mumbled to himself, eyes still on the young woman on the pink Harley.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

** Hope you like the Pixie Barcroft mood board I put together :) -Lulu ♥♥♥ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! - Lulu ❤


	3. Pilot Episode: Chapter 2

** Warning: Mention of Death. **

Meggie had been watching the three pairs of eyes peering at her through the white metal blinds for about a minute before they disappeared, and movement could be seen. She could see the aftermath of a party from where she sat, empty beer cans and glass bottles littering the yard as well as discarded pieces of clothing and the odd shoe. Meggie ignored the pang of longing in her belly. It reminded her of home, of the parties she grew up with and eventually partook in, of the faces of fallen friends and family and the bloodshed that drove her away. She clenched her knuckles and felt her fingernails bite into her palms. _Breathe. Lock the door. Walk away from the feelings._

The club door abruptly flew back on its hinges, blinds slapping violently against it and a posse of angry looking, sleep-deprived men spilt out of the door and towards her, black kuttes shining in the morning sun as they grouped themselves into a loose formation. The president appeared to be a burly looking man built like a brick house with short curly grey hair and a scowl, he had blue eyes, a rectangular head shape, and was around six feet tall. Meggie realised that this must be the famous Clay Morrow. Big hands decorated in thick gold biker rings opened and closed at his sides in a well-masked sign of aggression, but Meggie had seen that movement before in her own father and knew it to be a way of shaking off the morning stiffness and pain. The early signs of arthritis without raising the suspicions of his brothers. The pres' days were numbered.

"Can we help you, _miss_?" He growled as soon as he was in earshot of Meggie, his tone harsh like the bark of a guard dog.

"Needed to talk to you guys. First nine, right?" Meg said impressed, gesturing to the man's kutte.

"What's it to ya?" The president snapped, cold blue eyes scanning her up and down, Meggie could feel the judgement radiating from him.

She took a breath and pointed to the charter patches on the left side of her chest which read "Highton" and "W. LNH" for West Lancashire. And then to the right side with her "Vice President" patch and the "First Daughter" patch under it.

"I'm Meggie Barcroft, VP, from Highton, it's a small charter in the North West coast of England, near the Manchester charter." Meggie introduced, keeping her tone authoritative and calm, refusing to be intimidated.

"Whoop-de-do, get to the fucking point." The president growled, folding his arms over his chest. This fellow definitely had a hangover and some pent-up aggression obviously.

"My charter's dead, taken out by the IRA. I'm the only one to survive." Meggie ground out, trying to stay as neutral as she possibly could. Towards the back of the group, a man with shaggy grey hair and scars on his face looked up immediately at the mention of the IRA, his brown eyes boring into hers, searching for something.

"Why'd they take down yer charter, lass?" The man asked pushing past two men to get closer to her. She was surprised to hear a thick Scottish accent coming from him, she hadn’t expected to hear that in California.

Meggie ignored the gut-wrenching grief in her stomach and told the story as flatly as possible. "My dad, Bruce Barcroft, was the president. The IRA blackmailed him into supplying them with weapons using the vantage that Highton is a tiny town on the West Lancashire coast with no police station for miles around, so the only law around there is... _was_ the Sons. When we cut off our supply, they ended us. Stormed in during a birthday party for a member, killed everyone except me and two others. They took out the two Sons after hunting them down the next day. I couldn't get to them in time, so I left the country, came here." Meggie described, feeling the sting of emotions in her eyes. 

"We're sorry about that, when did this happen?" A shaggy blonde-haired man barked, ton serious and compassionate. Meggie noted the VP patch on his chest. _He must be Jax Teller_ , Pixie mused, slightly impressed.

"Sunday last week. Manchester charter smuggled me and my bike out the country and got me fake IDs. They suggested the best place for me was here. They were going to send word your way but didn't want my location getting in the wrong hands, so thought it would be better if I just showed up if I made it." Meggie told them, taking a steadying breath as her hands were shaking, she folded her arms so the men wouldn't see. "They didn't want me in their ranks as they didn't want more trouble with the IRA. Also, I happen to be female, in case you haven't noticed. Manchester Sons didn't want a _girlie_ apparently." Meggie added sarcastically which earnt her a small chuckle from a young man with a mohawk who was quick to try and hide his amusement by a scowl, but it didn't quite reach his shimmering brown eyes.

"Since when do we let _girls_ join the _Sons_?" The blonde-haired man, Jax, spoke up, he'd been scowling silently at her, letting the pres' get out what he wanted to know and trying to show his support to the president, but Meggie caught an intelligence and kindness to his blue eyes that Clay didn’t seem to have.

"We don't. A couple years ago, I got a call from Bruce. I thought he was joking so I said to go ahead, made a bet that she wouldn't last a day." Clay recalled, with a slight chuckle, intrigued to see the result of the strange phone call years ago.

"I remember that, you bet five bucks if I recall correctly, I've been a son for six years now." Meggie paused, and then grinned confidently. "That's two thousand one hundred and ninety days, give or take a few. Do you want me to tell you how much you owe me, old man?" She quipped, earning her some surprised chuckles which were quickly hushed up. The president stalked closer, eyes glaring.

"Who let you be Vice President, _little girl_?" The president growled, he stepped forwards again, towering over her, crossing his arms and jutting out his lower jaw. Meggie squared up to him fearlessly and looked directly into his eyes.

"It was put to a vote like everyone else, I earned that title." Meggie said, not backing down and showing her inner strength.

"Or did your daddy pay your way in?" The pres' sneered, trying to find a crack in her armour, not being used to being stood up to, especially not by a young woman.

"Is that what you did to get your step-son in? I know who you are, Clay, I'm not stupid." Meggie smirked, knowing she was getting under his skin. Her remark caused some more astonished chuckles from the men behind Clay. 

"Hey! I earned my title!" The blonde-haired man flew forwards, squaring up too, taking Clay’s lead.

Meggie shrugged. "I know, Jax, so did I." Meggie laid her cards out, showing she’d done her research.

"You're a cocky little shit." Jax grunted, half-impressed that she hadn't been intimidated by him or Clay.

"Know that too." Meggie said with a slight giggle. "Look, I need help, I'll go nomad if you want, but I can't stay in England and I know this is the best place for me. I need a new start and I'm good at what I do. I worked as a mechanic, so I can help out here, and I can fight. Put me in a ring with any one of your men and I'll show you what I’m capable of. I can pull my own weight, so just treat me like any other Son." Meggie pleaded her case, making sure her tone was still confident, refusing to beg.

Jax looked over to Clay and back at the kid. She looked young and there was a feisty sparkle in her hazel eyes that made Jax think that this kid was definitely going to be trouble, and Jax was looking forward to seeing what she could do.

"You want us to treat you like a Son, _huh_? Well since you're a, uh, _VP_ , why don't you take Jax in the ring and we'll see what you're made of? Hm?" Clay said with a grin like a cat who'd caught a canary.

Jax's eyes widened. "Clay, she's like half my height and looks like a rabbit, I don't want to kill her." He looked at Clay with a startled expression gesturing to Meggie, who was indeed significantly shorter than the men in the group. He estimated she was under five-foot-five, and that was being generous.

"Mate, I can take you. I've fought bigger, trust me, I'll land you on your ass before you even know what hit you." Meggie smirked, eyes glinting mischievously as she changed her stance to show her confidence in her own capabilities.

Meggie's cockiness fed directly into Jax's. "Oh really?" He smiled. "Well, show me what you got, _rabbit_ , you box?"

Meggie snorted. "Of course, I do. Where's your ring?" She questioned eagerly. After all the horror she’d seen in the last week, she needed to feel like she was in control again.

"Are we really doing this, Clay? Are ye out of yer bloody mind? Tha wee lass looks like she's a toddler." The Scotsman with the scars hissed at Clay, brown eyes worried for the young woman.

"I'm twenty-two, in case you were wondering. And I'm up for it providing Jax doesn't chicken out." Meggie informed them, keeping her fearless smile on her face and relaxing her posture. There was now full mischief on her face, and Chibs was relieved to see her experience with the IRA hadn’t totally scarred the girl.

"Are you sure you want to transfer? If you do, you'll lose your VP patch and you'll be on the bottom rung of the ladder with the other prospects. You up for that?" Clay asked her, tone harsh, intrigued to see how serious she was about the move.

"I already know that. I've helped transfer people before, so I know the rules." Meggie assured him, refusing to back away from Clay's glare. “I know I should have forms with me from my last charter, but everything burnt down. I got nothin’ except my fighting skills.” She added, knowing how out of the ordinary the situation was. 

"We're doing this. Juice wrap her hands and take her to the ring, Tig, help Jax. The rest of you, go get settled, we've got a show to watch." Clay announced, growing weary of Meggie’s unshakable self-assured nature and wanting to get this done and over with.

"See you in a few, midget." Jax smirked at Meggie as the group started to split up.

"Sure thing, _oaf_." She giggled back, Jax grinned and shook his head before walking off with a tall man with black curly hair and icy blue eyes. She didn't miss the wink the second man gave her, and Meggie felt a little flip in her stomach over it. The younger man with the mohawk jogged over to her and smile kindly and in such a friendly way that Meggie felt herself warm to him immediately, which didn’t happen often. 

"Nice to meet you, Meggie, I'm Juice." He introduced, Meggie was relieved to find a welcoming smile for once and it made her feel better knowing at least one Son was somewhat on her side.

"Good to meet you too, Juice. Where'd that name come from?" Meggie asked, interested to learn more about this potential new friend.

Juice shrugged as he led Meggie inside to get the box of wrappings for her hands. "My first names are ‘Juan Carlos’, that got shortened to JC, then it just sort of became Juice out of that." Juice revealed as they shuffled through the clubhouse debris to the utility room where Juice found what he was looking for. "Do you have a nickname or is it just Meggie?" He queried, wanting to learn more about Meggie too.

"At home, they call me... _used_ to call me, ‘Pixie’ because I was always up to something, messing around, making jokes, pulling pranks and stuff. That and I'm short." Meggie laughed slightly at her own explanation and the way Juice chuckled at this little reveal.

"I think ‘Pixie’ suits you well. I can't believe you just stood up to Clay and Jax like that, they're scary dudes when they want to be." Juice commented, Meggie liked how animated his voice was, and the interesting accent he had.

"Nah, they're just full of hot air. Like I said back there, I've dealt with worse." Meggie retorted, looking at the tribal-esque tattoos framing Juice’s mohawk and the interesting designs he had on his arms. There was a screaming skull, the reaper and a few others.

Juice found himself studying Meggie too, she was so petite compared to the other men, but she didn’t look weak by any means, and she also seemed to be constantly in motion, fiddling with the edges of her sleeves and shuffling her left foot. "When did you prospect in? You must have still been a kid; I've been trying to work it out." Juice queried, trying to get a better understanding of Meggie.

"Sixteen. I'd grown up in the club and already knew how to ride, fight and work on anything with an engine, so it just made sense." Meggie recalled, sounding a little wistful over those early days.

"That's so cool, I was just being a little shit at sixteen, makes me wish I'd actually tried to straighten out sooner." Juice replied with a smile, thinking about his teenage years of running around Queens, smoking pot and trying not to get sucked into gang violence.

"Well you're here now, and you seem like a good guy." Meggie smiled kindly. She looked around her at the surrounding room and clubhouse complete carnage covering every flat surface that only a Sons party can leave behind. A sleepy-looking prospect was beginning to clear up, gathering things into trash bags and waking up various scantily clad women.

"Can I ask you something?" Juice said as he began wrapping and securing Meggie's hands with the black wrappings.

"Sure, shoot.” Meggie shrugged, deciding that she definitely felt a connection to Juice and hoped she’d be able to stick around long enough for it to turn into a friendship. She needed friends right now.

"Your whole life just got torn apart, your whole family... just _gone_ , how are you coping with that? I-I don't even know what I'd do if this all went down in flames." Juice looked genuinely concerned for her, gesturing to the surrounding utility room, and Meggie swallowed hard, trying to keep the emotions in check.

"When the attack started, I was just in adrenaline mode, y’know? Just trying to make it out alive and support my brothers. When I realised it was only me left, that nobody else had survived the attacks… I focused on getting the hell out. Now, I'm focusing on getting in here. I'll deal with it when the time is right." Meggie assured him." It's just how I learnt to deal with my emotions, put them away whilst you deal with life and then sort through them when I'm safe and able to do so."

Juice was silent for a second as he helped her out of her kutte and a purple hoodie so she could move her arms more freely in her cropped and faded Harley Davidson t-shirt, which showed off her toned stomach and a few well-designed tattoos. "Well, when you need to deal with them, or just need to chat, come find me. I know what it's like to be on your own and how scary things can be when you don't have someone there to talk through your thoughts, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone, so just know, I'm here for you now, and I'm so sorry for the losses you've endured." Juice said sincerely. Meggie looked up at him, and for a brief second, Juice saw all the hurt, pain and terror in her round hazel eyes before it was gone in a flash and the playfulness was back.

"Thanks, bud, that means a lot." Meggie said giving Juice's shoulder a pat. "Now stop being so mushy, I've got a fight to win." She tacked on, bringing them both out of the darkness that had begun to descend. 

"Sure, you can take him, _Pixie_?" Juice said, testing her nickname out. He found it rolled off his tongue easily and he enjoyed the happy sparkle that appeared in his new friend's eyes when he called her that. From now on, she'd be Pixie to him.

Pixie rolled her eyes." _Pfft_. Please, you underestimate me, Juice. I just hope Jax doesn't take it personally when I send his ass to the floor." She grinned cockily, doing a few test punches to the air to make sure the wrappings felt good around her hands.

Juice laughed at her comment. "I think Jax’d be more impressed than hurt, though he does have a little bit of an ego." He joked as he led Pixie out through the clubhouse and to the ring. Jax was already shirtless and stood in the centre of it, fists wrapped up in white and warming up his muscles. When he caught sight of them, a confident smile played on his lips under his blonde goatee. Meggie was impressed by the number of tattoos that covered his torso; they were really well done too. She spotted the huge reaper on his back as he pivoted to throw some punches in the air.

"Yo, pipsqueak, what's taking so long? I thought you'd run off." He jeered, calling out to her.

"Nah, I was just letting you enjoy your last few minutes in peace before you get your ass handed to you." Pixie called back. "And it's _Pixie_ , if you must make fun of my height." She quipped as she got closer to the ring.

Jax snorted. "You really are a cocky little shit, aren't you? Did your old club call you Pixie?" He quizzed, deciding he kinda liked this potential new addition to the club.

"Yeah, I answered to that more than 'Meggie'. And I am, it's better than being a big oaf." Pixie teased, making Jax chuckle as Juice held the ropes for Pixie to climb in. Clay and the others were gathering around, and Pixie watched as a tough-looking bald man got into the corner of the ring and glared at them both. He had intense dark brown eyes and was wearing baggy light blue jeans, black boots and a grey reaper shirt under his black kutte and Pixie could see all kinds of tattoos curling all over his arms, neck and head. 

"Alright, boxing rules, no biting, no scratching, and no groin shots. If one of you goes down, the other backs up. Happy here's acting as ref.” Clay announced gesturing to the man in the corner. Pixie raised her eyebrows at the name he’d just been called. “Once the fight is over, we'll put it to a vote to see what everyone thinks of the kid and if we want her to prospect." Clay finished, taking a swig of his beer bottle.

"Got it, nice to meet you, Happy." Pixie smiled, she did a couple of warm-up stretches like Jax and then each of them took a corner.

"Ready, set, go!" Happy signalled, his voice raspy and deep. Pixie stepped forwards arms up in a classic boxing stance and watched as Jax began jumping up and down on his toes and getting up close then backing up, she let him do it for a couple of seconds before rolling her eyes.

"Stop dancing and hit me, asshole." She chided him. Jax took a swing.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading! Don't forget to leave a comment or a vote if you enjoyed :)


	4. Pilot Episode: Chapter 3

** Warning: Mention of Blood. **

There aren't a lot of things that Jax will say he's afraid of, there's even less that he'll actually admit to. So, when he took his shot and punched Pixie’s left cheek, at first he was scared he'd broken her neck as her head snapped to the side very sharply and she staggered back, but she didn't drop and Jax gave a sigh of relief. It was short-lived, however, as he watched Pixie slowly turn her head back to face him, her hazel eyes were dark and deadly now, devoid of any warmth and playfulness. She slowly smiled at him, _like a little predator_ , Jax thought as a shiver ran down his spine. Pixie spat out a mouthful of blood and then came at him like a bat out of hell. Jax barely had a chance to react as a small but powerful fist connected with his sternum, and a second on his diaphragm, winding him completely, as he doubled over, two fists came flying towards his face, one connecting with his nose, and a second under his chin, snapping his head up. He managed to land another hit to her side, but it cost him his balance and over Jax went. Happy was on Pixie in a flash snatching her up and hauling her back away from Jax who lay on his back gasping in shock and the Sons let out surprised yells and cheers. Pixie struggled against Happy’s hold on her for a second before she relaxed, calming down.

Juice jumped the ropes and came to Pixie's side as Happy turned her around to look at her face which looked like it was going to bruise already. "You okay?" Juice chirped, "You completely flattened Jax!" He laughed in awe as Juice looked over to where Tig and Chibs were hauling Jax to his feet, blood pouring out of his nose and his face still mildly surprised at what had just occurred.

"I'm great, told you I'd knock him on his ass." Pixie smiled, bouncing on her feet slightly as the adrenaline coursed through her.

"Tig, is Jax good?" Juice said, relieved that Pixie was fine, and a little concerned for Jax who had taken some harsh hits that none of them had been expecting to come from Pixie. Despite her small stature, Pixie was all muscle, and they sensed she’d had some intense fight training too. Pixie watched as Jax, face covered in blood, was checked over by the Scotsman and the man with the bright blue eyes and dark curly hair, both of them trying to wipe Jax’s face down and steady him.

"Chibs’ll check him for a concussion, though he may need an ice pack for his self-esteem." The man with the blue eyes, Tig, informed them with a grin. "Nice hits, Pixie, where’d you learn to fight?" he asked, intrigued by the young woman.

"Thanks. I had boxing lessons from a retired professional boxer since the age of four. He was a Highton Son too." Pixie smiled at the compliment and she thought back on the man she’d viewed as a second father figure and a doting uncle. It hurt her heart thinking about him, but Pixie pushed past it.

"I want another round with you. I'm not done." Jax growled, glaring at Pixie. He spat some blood out and Pixie raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Jax, I don't think you want that, mate. You're already hurt, and I'm not here to take you down completely. Trust me, you've done better than half the guys that have stepped into the ring with me before." Pixie described, worried for Jax’s well-being, she didn’t particularly feel like offing the son of JT.

"I can handle myself." Jax grunted, pushing Tig and Chibs off of him. Pixie looked worriedly up at them, and then Happy and Juice, trying to gauge the situation.

"What are the rules here? You guys aren't going to jump me if I take Jax down again are you?" Pixie asked, slightly nervously. "I only want to prove my worth to you guys, that was the deal here. I don’t want to K.O. anyone.” She explained, trying to make her motives clear. She wasn’t trying to make enemies.

"If Jax wants to take you on again, I'm fine with that." Clay decided, his words bearing the finality that only a president could. "I'm enjoying this." He grinned and puffed on his cigar. "Kick her ass to the curb, Jax." He ordered, making it painfully obvious to Pixie that she was on her own here. She turned her attention to Jax, who gave her a nod.

"You have my word my guys won't jump you." Jax vowed as he wiped the last of the blood off with a rag Chibs provided and got ready to fight again.

"Well if you're sure, I just hope your nose will be salvageable." Pixie spoke confidently, now that she knew the others were impressed. Juice gave her an encouraging pat and got out of the ring. "C'mon, Pixie, get him!" He called from the side, causing Pixie to feel a little more at ease, glad for Juice’s support. A portly man with long grey curly hair who'd been sat watching with a whisky in hand, gave a laugh as Juice settled himself next to the man.

"Ye've got some serious balls, lass." Chibs laughed as he got out with Tig, both men giving Pixie an encouraging smile before they called out for Jax to amp him up too.

Cheers for both Pixie and Jax came from all around the ring as more Sons and a couple of onlookers came over to watch, disbelieving that Pixie had managed to knock Jax to the ground the first time. Pixie and Jax got into their corners again and Happy called for them to begin once more. This time Jax, wary of how fast Pixie was, darted back and forth around her trying to keep her at arm's length. She stayed still, watching him like a statue. Then, just as Jax swung to take his first punch, she ducked, punched his arm away from her and used the momentum to land a hit to the side of his chest, just under his armpit. Jax swung wildly around to face her, not liking how Pixie was now behind him. He jabbed and landed a hit to her chest, sending Pixie tumbling backwards to the mat, but she was up as quickly as she went down. Jax took another swing and caught Pixie on the side of her head, causing her to spin and Pixie’s knees buckled, but was up again in a second. Pixie coughed and spat out a little blood, before her eyes went deadly once again Jax wondered if he had a death wish. She rushed at him again, caught Jax on the right side of his jawbone with a left hook and took a swinging uppercut to his chin which Jax just managed to block in time. He retaliated with another punch, but Pixie weaved and used the opening to land a hit to his temple which had Jax seeing stars. He staggered and gave a hit to her side, before two punches came back at him, one to his temple again and one to his eye and suddenly the ring floor was coming up to greet Jax.

Happy was on Pixie in a heartbeat, hauling her up and away from Jax, pulling her back. He'd seen the way Pixie’s eyes had changed and knew exactly what headspace she was in; unless he intervened, she'd be in for the kill. Happy was impressed by this little kid. He'd seen Jax in more fights than he could count and not many had been able to best him. It didn't help that due to her small stature, she was much faster than Jax who was taller and broader. Once Pixie had relaxed in his arms, he loosened his grip on her and watched as Chibs and Tig went to Jax's aid, checking to see how he was doing.

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but the girl wins.” Clay announced with a baffled timbre. “Juice, Chibs, Tig, patch them up, then meet the rest of us in church in ten minutes." Clay ordered before he shook his head and walked off back inside. As soon as Pixie could wriggle out of Happy's grip, she dashed to Jax’s side, concerned for his welfare.

"Hey, you okay? I felt your nose crack. I didn't mean to hit you as hard as I did." Pixie queried, concern and worry clouding her tone. She barely knew this guy and he seemed like a good person, so Pixie felt a small amount of guilt, though she wouldn’t have changed what she did, she had to prove her worth.

Jax laughed and winced. "Kid, it's just a fight, I'm fine. Though as soon as we heal, I'm taking you down in that ring. I almost had you there." He decided, warming up to Pixie’s personality, how she seemed to show compassion but had strength to her at the same time.

"I know, I'm impressed, that almost never happens.” Pixie informed him with a smile. “You did good for an oaf." she added mischievously, hazel eyes warm to show she was just messing around.

"Same to you, pipsqueak." Jax quipped back, smiling and clapping her on the shoulder before getting out of the ring with Tig's help. Juice helped Pixie out and handed her an ice pack.

"You hurt?" Juice asked, black brows furrowing in concern as he looked Pixie over, leading her to a picnic bench so she could sit on the seat there.

"Duh, I just had a fight. I'll live though, nothing's broken." Pixie assured him, feeling glad to rest her legs for a moment, Juice hovered awkwardly for a moment before sitting down next to Pixie when she patted the space next to her.

"Can I check ye over, lass? I want to make sure Jackie boy didn't give you a concussion." Chibs questioned, coming over and feeling her head and neck when Pixie nodded her head. He had a sense of warmth and care to him that Pixie felt happy to be around, it was like Chibs had a natural caretaking ability.

"I've had one before, came off my bike and hit a tree, broke my collarbone and hit my head pretty hard. I had my helmet on, so I didn't do a Humpty Dumpty, but I was concussed for the next couple of days, wasn't fun." Pixie described humouredly, causing Juice and Chibs to grin at her wording.

"Glad ye had tha sense ta wear yer helmet.” Chibs chuckled. “Ye don't feel ill or anythin’ now do ye?" Chibs quizzed, sounding worried.

"No, but if I do, I'll find you. Right now, I just feel bruised." Pixie reassured him, feeling grateful that he was so supportive, even though Pixie was an outsider to them.

"Aye, yer chest is going to bruise up nicely, and ye may end up with a black eye. Everything looks okay though." Chibs confirmed, feeling satisfied that the girl was just banged up and there wasn’t anything serious going on with her. Though he did catch some faded burn marks on her torso and arms.

"That's good, thank you, Chibs, right?" Pixie asked graciously, smiling up at him.

"That's me, lass." Chibs grinned. Satisfied, he went to check Jax's head and nose now the bleeding had stopped again, whilst Juice used an antiseptic wipe on Pixie's cheek which had a small cut from Jax's punch. Tig came and sat down on the bench next to her, deciding to introduce himself, feeling somewhat enchanted by the young woman who’d just single-handedly knocked Jax on his ass. Twice.

"Hey, I haven't had a chance to introduce myself yet, I'm Tig, Sergeant at Arms." Tig told Pixie, his voice rough and rolling, but friendly. Pixie took in Tig’s appearance properly, his wild dark curls, enticing blue eyes, hooked nose and bright smile under his brown stubble making a goatee.

"Nice to meet you.” Pixie greeted her voice friendly. Her mischievous nature came to the fore and she couldn’t resist. “If you touch me does that make me 'it'?" Pixie giggled, Tig looked confused before Chibs chuckled overhearing Pixie’s teasing question.

"Haven't heard that in years.'Tig' is also what some kids in the UK call the game 'tag'." He supplied an explanation to Juice, Jax and Tig who nodded in understanding, getting the joke.

"There's also 'tiggy scarecrow' too." Pixie added, happy that Chibs at least had understood her.

Tig smiled at Pixie, seeing how she was starting to relax around them, more of her personality coming out slowly. "Guess I'm popular over there." He joked back, leaning back against the picnic bench table and spreading his arms out along the wood, his right arm going behind Pixie.

"Not so much, if you get tigged everyone has to run away." Pixie giggled, enjoying being able to joke around after so much darkness.

"Wonder if that's why you can't get a woman to stay around, she doesn't want to get tigged." Jax smirked and ducked as Tig threw an empty beer can at him.

"Ha, ha very funny." Tig said, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, I just wanted to say that I'm impressed, you fought hard, girl. That was hot." Tig grinned, turning his attention back to Pixie, taking in her appearance and the happy sound of her giggle.

"Thanks, maybe we can do a round in the ring too at some point, I'd like to see if you're as tough as my charter's Sergeant. His name was Victor Romanchek, he was like a charging rhino when he got going, looked like one too." Pixie laughed though Juice caught the pain in her eyes from remembering her fallen friend.

"I'd like to do that, doll, though no one's ever compared me to a rhino." Tig smiled, eager to get to know Pixie more, and the prospect of spending more time with her appealed to him greatly.

"A rabid dog, maybe." Chibs commented with a grin and a nod in Tig’s direction as he put some tape over Jax's nose.

"A rabid dog's better than a drunk hobo. That's what you fight like, Chibbie." Tig fired back, grinning widely.

"Oh really? It's been a while since we had a match, why don't we settle this in tha ring?" Chibs retorted, finishing up tending to Jax.

"You both can fight it out later, but right now we have to go to church.” Jax stepped in before Chibs and Tig really got going. “Pixie, go make yourself at home by the bar, play a little pool or something until we're done. Juice, show her inside, then come to church." Jax said getting up and wincing slightly. "Oh, and I need your kutte." Jax demanded, extending his hand towards Pixie.

"You better be careful with it. I love that thing more than anything else, except for my bike." Pixie warned, but picked it up and handed it over, eyes wary and flashing a severe warning to Jax.

"I will.” Jax promised, knowing how much Kuttes meant to the Sons. “Now buzz off, we've got things to discuss." He grinned. Everyone walked back over to the clubhouse, then went their separate ways. Juice got Pixie a drink of water and showed her where the pool balls and cues were, then went into the meeting. Pixie looked around at the prospect who was still trying to put the clubhouse back together after the party. She caught his eye, taking in his appearance. He was thin, blonde-haired with blue eyes.

"Need a hand?" Pixie offered, putting her cup of water down on the bar top.

"Oh, no, it's all good, I saw the fight with Jax, that was so cool." The prospect rushed over his words awkwardly and Pixie took a second to unravel them, sensing he didn’t often get to chat, let alone be offered help with his prospect duties.

"Thanks, and c'mon, it's not like I have anything better to do, what's your name?" Pixie insisted, walking up to him.

The prospect smiled, surprised at Pixie’s insistence to help him out. "Half-Sack, and if you wanna, there's so much to cleared up." He groaned, looking around at the mess.

"Cool, I don't think I want to know where your name comes from." Pixie said with a shudder and a giggle.

Half-Sack chuckled. "Nah, you really don't."

"Hand me a rubbish bag then and I'll get the cans behind the sofas." Pixie asked, keeping her tone friendly so Half-Sack would chill out with her more.

"Great, I put your bike by the others so it's safe, what type is it? It's so cool!" Half-Sack babbled excitedly.

"It's an Old Glory nineteen-ninety-three FXRL Harley Davidson. Rides a dream and I can do some stunts with it too. I'm a bit of a maniac when I'm on it, I love doing wheelies and jumps and shit." Pixie described fondly; she adored her Harley.

"Really? You gotta show me some time!" Half-Sack enthused excitedly as the pair of them got working.

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** I'm pretty new to writing fight scenes, so please feel free to let me know what you thought and/or what I could do to improve. Also, the bike at the top of the chapter is the one Pixie rides, except hers in painted light pink with a silver reaper on the fuel tank. -Lulu ♥♥♥ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: I'm pretty new to writing fight scenes, so please feel free to let me know what you thought and/or what I could do to improve. Also the bike at the end of the chapter is the one Pixie rides, but hers is pink and chrome with a silver reaper on the fuel tank. -Lulu <3


	5. Pilot Episode: Chapter 4

Once all the Sons had arrived into the chapel, Clay waited until everyone had quietened down and had taken their seats around the huge redwood reaper table. "So, thoughts on the kid?" He announced to the group as they settled, taking drinks of beer and lighting a few cigarettes.

"She's got spirit. Feisty wee bugger I'll give her that." Chibs chuckled, thinking over what he’d seen of Pixie so far.

"Definitely a fighter, when we were sparring, she suddenly got this glint in her eye that said she wouldn't stop until I was making friends with the mat." Jax put in, sounding impressed, if a little frustrated that he hadn’t won, and was already thinking of ways to best Pixie in the ring.

"And she did just that. Shows she’s capable of taking down threats and standing up for herself." Bobby spoke up, replaying the astonishing match in his head as he took a drag of his cigarette.

"She's dedicated too. I mean Vice President at twenty-two? That's unheard of. When did she prospect in?" Tig thought aloud, rubbing his chin.

"Sixteen. We got talking when I was getting her ready for the fight." Juice put in, shoulders hunching slightly as he wasn’t used to having a voice at the table.

" _Jesus_. That makes me feel old." Piney grumbled, pushing his oxygen tube a little closer to his nose.

"Piney, everything makes you feel old. You're fucking ancient." Tig chuckled and ducked from the box of cigarettes Piney chucked at him.

"She say anything else?" Clay asked, intrigued, smoking his fat cigar and looking down at the wooden reaper.

"Uh, apparently she's a bit of a prankster and a joker, part of the reason she got the nickname ‘Pixie’."

Jax smirked. "I thought so, she's as cocky as anything, so if she stays, we'll have to keep her busy or she'll end up a troublemaker for us." He warned, though he sounded like he was looking forward to seeing what she could get up to.

"I think that could be entertaining. She's gorgeous too, I mean those hazel eyes? Raven hair? _Beautiful_." Tig mused, looking around the table to see if anyone else agreed.

"Has Tiggy got a crush?" Bobby joked and the table erupted in " _oooh’_ s"

"Nah, well, I'm just saying." Tig muttered, looking a little flustered.

"Being a prankster shows intelligence, you've got to be able to plan and know the people you're working with for it to be effective, so she's got to be observant too." Jax theorised, thinking about Pixie’s potential uses for Samcro.

"What about her emotional state?" Clay questioned. "I mean the last thing we need is for her to get all teary-eyed and gooey if we have to do something serious." He grunted, still unsure about a woman being a Son.

"I don't think she's like that." Chibs countered. "Pixie seems ta be on top of her emotions and is in a hell of a better shape than I'd be if what happened ta her, happened ta me. Hell, I don't know what I'd feckin’ do. I was a wreck tha last time I had a run-in with tha IRA. That's how I ended up here. I feel fer the lass, I really do. We're all she's got now." Chibs spoke from his heart, feeling a connection to Pixie and wanting to help her.

"I second that. I checked in with her about it and she says she has a way of locking down her emotions whilst she's focusing on what she needs to do to get the job done, and to get to safety, then she lets it out.” Juice elaborated, leaning forwards against the table on his forearms. “I told her I'd be there for her if she needed because I couldn't imagine having to deal with that alone. If we don't help her, she's going to go into a tailspin." Juice warned worriedly, he too felt like he could have a strong bond with Pixie, and didn’t want her to go.

"Good on you, lad." Chibs replied warmly. "Well, that shows she has a mature way of dealing with the traumas. Sounds ta me like this isn't her first one, probably why she's coping so well." He speculated with a sad look in his thoughtful brown eyes.

"If she's scarred up by trauma, is that something we want in the club?" Clay questioned sceptically, looking around at the group, who to him seemed like they’d found a little kitten and had fallen for the cuteness, instead of looking at the practicality of the situation. "I mean we're already dealing with the blowback from our gun warehouse, falling behind with the gun deliveries, tension with the One-Niners and the Mayans, last thing we need is _another_ loose cannon." He argued, shaking his head as he took another puff of his cigar.

"She'll be a prospect if we let her in. As long as we keep her out of that shite, get her working hard around the workshop, she can't get inta too much trouble too quickly, _surely_." Chibs countered, standing up for Pixie. "Besides, we all have our burdens, so what's one more? Hell, she might teach us a thing or two about dealing with it better, instead of drowning them in booze." Chibs joked, raising the tense atmosphere in the room.

"But that way is so fun." Tig chuckled, which got some laughs from around the table before they quietened as Clay looked as though he was about to speak.

"Amen to that. What bike has she got?" Clay asked, knowing a Sons bike said a great deal about them.

"It's a nineteen-ninety-three Old Glory I think, which means Pixie's a stunt rider. That could be useful, shows she's not afraid of testing her limits, and you have to be a confident rider, and trusting in your own abilities to be able to do that kind of stuff. If she's good, might be fun to watch too." Tig revealed to the group, showing he’d already been thinking about that aspect.

"Hap, thoughts?" Clay said, focusing on his hitman.

Happy tapped his tick fingers against the wooden tabletop in thought, intense dark brown eyes looking at the table before he flicked them up at the others. "I like her.” He decided, deep raspy voice showing he was entertained by the small woman. “She's interesting. Tatt’s are done nicely too." He added, thinking of the ones he’s seen on Pixie so far. She had a very detailed and realistic crow on her right upper arm that had a red rose in its beak, being held by the green stem. Due to Pixie wearing her Harley crop top when fighting Jax, he’d also spotted a set of twenty-seven black tally marks on the left side of Pixie’s ribcage, one of the last tally marks was red which intrigued Happy. Pixie also had a Sons reaper on the right side of her ribcage holding the scythe and the black anarchy ball, though the reaper’s cloak had been done in dark blues and purples making a watercolour effect with little white stars dotted over it.

"Yeah, she's got some interesting ones, a crow, reaper, and some tally marks. Spotted them when I was checking her over." Juice concurred.

"Wonder what she's counting?" Bobby asked, thinking of a few possibilities but also how sweet Pixie looked, she didn’t seem like a hardened Son.

"Hap counts how many kills he's had." Jax reasoned, Happy smiled at this and patted his torso where his smiley faces were located under his shirt.

"Do you think Pixie's capable of killing?" Juice asked, thinking about Pixie’s cheery hazel eyes, button nose and sweet smile.

"Well, considering she got away from an IRA attack pretty unscathed, I'd say yeah, she is. Plus, she made VP. That doesn't come without some bloodshed, she would have had to be there to cover her father's back." Tig answered, sticking up for Pixie, he knew appearances could be misleading and thought Pixie’s beautiful features were an advantage as it meant she could potentially get close to enemies without them realising they were under threat until it was too late.

"Anyone know how long she was VP?" Clay asked the group, interested but also sceptical still.

"No, but VP patch looks fresher than the others, there isn't as much wear on it, maybe a year?" Bobby hypothesised, examining her kutte with his glasses on the end of his nose.

"What do we think about the pink kutte?" Clay smirked as Bobby slid the kutte into the centre of the table so the others could have a look at it.

"I like it, it's fun and it certainly got our attention. Look, she's even got a 'First Daughter' patch in it." Bobby said chuckling as Tig carefully tugged it over to his corner of the table.

"This kutte is tiny." Tig snorted as he put it against his chest for comparison, his chest dwarfing the little pink kutte.

"First Daughter? More like little sister." Jax laughed as the others chuckled at the size difference between Tig and Pixie’s kutte.

"Maybe we ought to change that patch." Bobby put forward with a grin, looking towards Clay.

"Let's put this thing to a vote first." Clay announced. "Votes for Pixie Barcroft to stay?"

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	6. Pilot Episode: Chapter 5

** Warning: Mention of Blood and Death. **

Pixie and Half-Sack had been working on clearing up the main bar area whilst the Sons had been in the chapel discussing Pixie’s potential prospect-ship. She tried to ignore the rising wave of nerves over this fact, instead, focusing on chatting to Half-Sack who she was warming to well. She winced as she stood up from the floor, bag full of beer cans and party paraphernalia.

"You okay?" Half-Sack called from behind the bar as he was washing all the glass tumblers. His face was scrunched slightly in concern for his potential new friend.

"Yeah, just stiff from the fight, I've got new bruises on top of old bruises." Pixie brushed his worries off not used to sympathy.

"Ouch. I know the feeling." Half-Sack winced, thinking about some of the more severe fights he’d done in the boxing ring during his boxing career in the military and when he was just casually training.

Pixie was about to reply when the sound of the Sons leaving the chapel and coming down the corridor made her lose her train of thought. She could hear them chattering amongst themselves, but it tapered out once they stopped in formation at the bar. Pixie turned to see Jax at the front flanking Clay with Tig beside him.

"What are you doing?" Jax asked, seeing the trash bag in Pixie’s hand and the crushed beer can she was midway through throwing away.

"Helping clear up the chaos? I had nothing better to do and it seemed wrong for me to just sit back and do nothing." Pixie clarified, showing her thoughtfulness. "So, what's the verdict?" She asked, walking towards the group at the bar pushing her nerves down so she was able to look at them confidently.

Clay threw Pixie's kutte at her. "Get a knife, tear off the patches." He snarled at Pixie, startling the young woman who didn’t flinch externally. Half-Sack passed her his knife regretfully and gave the group a wary glance. Pixie's heart plummeted and she felt like throwing up. This was not a good sign. She cut off her status patch and the ones from her charter, feeling like she wanted to sob as she did so, but maintained her composure. Pixie paused before flipping the kutte to look at the back and cut away the white and black 'Highton' banner that made up the bottom rocker. Her mind was reeling, trying to figure out where she'd go without the Sons. Who she'd be without the Sons? Pixie clutched the patches in her right fist, looking up at the group, then back to her beloved kutte. When none of the group gave her any acknowledgement, Pixie positioned the knife to take off the reaper, when Jax grabbed her hand. She jerked her head up at him, eyes calculating and questioning, also betraying her slightly and showing the immense pain there.

"Don't take that one off, otherwise how will we find our newest prospect?" Jax grinned, feeling slightly guilty for pranking Pixie, but the payoff was worth it.

Jax's words sunk in and Pixie looked up at him in astonishment, then a massive grin appeared on her face and she did a little jump of excitement.

"You bastards! You had me believing you were tossing me out." Pixie laughed in relief, putting her hand over her heart as the others laughed at her reaction.

"Duh, we wanted to get the first prank in before you started." Juice smiled, elated at the way the votes had gone, he felt like he had a friend in the ranks now, someone he might be able to open up to.

"Oh, I swear you guys are gonna get it!" Pixie laughed before putting her kutte back on. She slipped her old patches into her inner pocket; Pixie couldn't abandon her past. Juice stepped forward and hugged her, and before she knew it, she was being passed from Son to Son, getting a welcome hug from everyone. The last to hug her was Tig, he enveloped her completely and hugged her tightly to him. "Welcome to the family, Pix." He murmured in her ear before letting her go.

She grinned up at him, heart-warming at his words and her stomach giving little butterflies over the fact they were embracing. "Thanks, mate." She mumbled back, hazel eyes glittering as she looked up at his sharp blue pair.

"I think we ought to celebrate, get the drinks going, prospects." Clay ordered, taking his place at the bar. As Pixie moved to go behind the counter and help Half-Sack, Happy, who was sitting at the very end, grabbed her arm. Pixie automatically raised a fist in response but let it down when she realised Happy wasn't a threat.

"Your tattoos. What are you counting?" Happy said in his gruff, gravelly voice, brown eyes locking onto Pixie’s face.

Pixie bit her bottom lip and took a breath, steadying her emotions before taking off her kutte and raising her crop top up a little so she could show Happy and the others the tally mark tattoos on her chest.

"I have twenty-seven tally marks for the twenty-seven brothers I lost last Sunday. One of the Manchester Sons gave me the tattoos before I left." Pixie explained, a tear escaped, and she wiped it away quickly, hoping no one would notice.

"Why's one of the last tally-marks red?" Juice asked, his voice low and full of compassion, seeing Pixie’s pain.

"It's to signify my dad's death. He was one of the last to die, fought hard until the end and went down with his ship, so to speak." Pixie responded, her voice wavering very slightly, wiping a second tear from her face and cleared her throat.

"We’re sorry that this happened to you, Pixie." Clay said, nodding his head to her, even he was moved by Pixie’s story of survival.

"I know, I wish it would have turned out differently, but wishing the past would change doesn't get you anywhere, I have to use it to grow and be the best person I can be, and to help anyone I can. That's what they would have wanted." Pixie told them, believing in her words. She cleared her throat again and shook her head, forcing herself into a happier mindset. "Now, let's stop this moping. You guys wanted drinks, right? Half-Sack show me where everything is, and I'll help you do it. I worked at my club's bar during the evenings a couple nights a week, so I know what I'm doing." She told the group, throwing herself into her prospect duties which were familiar and comforting in a world of chaos and massive changes.

The club members ordered their drinks and chatted to Pixie, getting to know her better and vice versa. She tried her best to learn all their names and answer any questions they had for her so that she could make a good first impression and begin to settle in her new clubhouse environment with her new Sons brethren. An hour later, Clay called for a meeting with Jax, Bobby and Tig before they rode off together to meet with someone called "Darby". Pixie hoped it wasn't anything too serious, but didn't pry, knowing her place and sensing Clay wasn’t the type of president to sit and answer the questions of prospects. When they returned sometime later, Jax came to check in on Pixie again as she was helping to restock the bar. They chatted a little more whilst Pixie finished her task and Jax had a drink.

"Hey, Pix, show me your bike?" Jax requested after he downed his soda.

Pixie straightened up with a smile at the prospect of showing off her bike. She looked over to Half-Sack who was busily cleaning the last of the debris. "Sure, you alright here, Half-Sack?" Pixie called over to the young man.

"Yeah, I'll finish up here and then start mopping the floor." Half-Sack agreed with a friendly nod. Pixie gave him a little wave in return and went to the clubhouse door with Jax. Juice, who was sitting on the black leather sofa nearest the door, looked up from his laptop and pulled his headphones down around his neck.

"Hey, Pix, I still have your hoodie from when you took it off before the fight, here you go." Juice passed it over to her, and Pixie smiled sweetly, touched that Juice had been keeping track of it for her.

"Thanks, mate." Pixie grinned and took it off him, folding it over her arm as she walked out with Jax. They wandered out to the bike row with all the Sons bikes lined up together, an impressive array, Pixie thought. Parked next to a white and black Harley Dyna was Pixie’s pride and joy.

"This is my Old Glory nineteen-ninety-three FXRL Harley Davidson, with a custom pink paint job, of course." Pixie announced, rubbing the black rubber of the handlebars in the same loving way you’d stroke the head of a dog.

"Amazing. Who did the reaper?" Jax asked, examining the expertly painted Sons of Anarchy reaper painted in silver chrome that sparkled when the light hit it just right.

"I'm not sure, it was given to me by my club for my twentieth birthday. They wanted it to be unique, yet reliable so I can get around and do all the jumps and tricks that I love doing." Pixie described with a touched tone, showing how even now, she was still so grateful for the gift.

"You do tricks?" Jax asked, examining the bike with enthusiasm.

"Hell yeah, wheelies, jumps, whatever I'm in the mood for. I've been doing stunts since I learnt how to ride a bicycle.” Pixie informed him with a happy smile, eager to be talking about something she loved.

"Cool, you'll have to show us sometime." Jax replied, looking impressed as he checked the tyres. "I bet I can beat you in a race." He added, unable to resist competing with Pixie.

"Be my guest, but the only thing you'll see is my back wheel." Pixie grinned cockily, enjoying the banter that seemed to come naturally with her and Jax.

"That's fighting talk, darlin'. You're gonna eat my dust." Jax chuckled, nudging her as he stepped away from her bike and they began walking towards the clubhouse.

"I highly doubt that." Pixie laughed, nudging him back with her elbow as they began to mess around with each other whilst walking. "Maybe we should all have a ride out sometime? You guys can show me the scenic routes and all that." Pixie thought aloud, reaching the open clubhouse door and turning around to face Jax. The next second she was drenched in mop bucket water as Half-Sack threw the wastewater out onto the lot, not seeing Pixie until she had walked into his line of fire. Pixie gasped and Jax jumped back, barely getting splashed as Pixie froze up on the spot, the cold water running down her neck and drenching her completely.

"Oh my god, Pixie! I‘m so sorry! I genuinely didn't see you!" Half-Sack panted, tripping over his words as he dropped the bucket in horror. Some of the other Sons came to the doorway to see what happened, finding Pixie soaked from head to toe in mop water as she turned around to look at Half-Sack.

"I know I'm small, but I'm not that small, you spanner." She told him exasperatedly, on the one hand, she knew it had been a complete accident, but at the same time, she was now soaked to the skin in dirty water. Pixie looked over at Jax who was doubled over laughing and she couldn't help but join in with the others who were also thoroughly enjoying her predicament. “Accidents happen, mate, just try not to do that again.” She told Half-Sack with a little giggle. Half-Sack looked relieved that Pixie wasn’t about to haul back and punch him.

"Have ye got a change of clothes, ye poor sod?" Chibs asked when he could breathe from laughing so hard at the trouble Half-Sack had caused.

"Nope, I just have the clothes on my back, and this hoodie which may as well be a mop now." Pixie joked as she wrung it out and watched as the brownish water dripped onto the concrete and shuddered. Tig slapped Half-Sack on the back of the head.

"Go find her some new one's then, dummy." He huffed at him, feeling a sense of protection for Pixie.

"This would probably be a good time to ask if anyone knows where I can stay for the foreseeable future, I used up the last of my savings paying back the Manchester Charter for the flight over here." Pixie confessed to the group, a hopeful tone to her voice as she shivered slightly.

"We have dorms in the clubhouse, I'll take you to them once we find you a towel." Juice chuckled, wiping some of the dirt off her face with a tissue from his kutte.

Pixie looked over at Jax who was still smirking over what happened, so she jumped up at him and managed to grab him in a bear hug, dampening his clothes too. He started laughing again and tried to fight Pixie off playfully, and the pair of them ended up in a chortling brawl, play fighting with each other until Happy and Tig waded in to break them up before they injured themselves. Juice reappeared with a spare white towel and wrapped Pixie up in it so she wouldn't drip everywhere. Clay gave her a key for one of the spare dorms on the way past and soon she was staring at the four walls that would be her new place to crash. There was tan wood panelling on all of the walls and some faded motorcycle posters had been stuck up for decoration. A small microwave and a kettle were on a dresser in the corner with some stacks of instant noodles and cookies. A double bed with green sheets took up most of the room and there was a door to an en-suite in the corner. Overall, the room exceeded Pixie's expectations and she felt like she would be able to use the space to work through her traumas and focus on the new beginnings that this room promised.

"You okay?" Juice nudged her, noticing how she had stopped to look around at her new space. He guessed Pixie was feeling a little overwhelmed and was probably missing her old room back in Highton.

"Yeah, this place is amazing, are you sure I can stay here for a while?" Pixie asked considerately, both her face and voice showing how thankful she was over having a dorm room to stay in.

"For as long as you need, yeah, once we get you on the payroll, you'll be able to start saving for a place of your own." Juice assured her, watching Pixie do a little spin on the spot, taking in all the Harley and Sons memorabilia decorating the place.

There was a knock on the door and Half-Sack appeared with a white plastic washing basket full of clean laundry. "Hey, Pix, the guys told me to get you some spare clothes from the laundry room to borrow until you can find some of your own. A lot of it will be oversized, because you're tiny, but there's some stuff of Juice's that could fit in here." Half-Sack explained gesturing to the basket, ending with a joke that had Pixie giggling a little.

"Oi, I'm not that short." Juice grumbled, kicking Half-Sack’s booted ankle. “Almost the same height as you.”

Pixie took the basket off of Half-Sack gratefully. "Thanks, Sack, and don't worry, I don't mind baggy clothes, they're comfy. I'll try and return these when I get enough money to buy my own. I only have a twenty pound note in my wallet, everything else was drained whilst escaping. There go my savings I guess." Pixie explained wistfully. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Once I get changed, can either of you two show me around the garage? I want to start working as soon as possible so I'm not as much of a burden, and I can start pulling my own weight." Pixie asked, looking from Juice to Half-Sack and back.

"I'll show you," Juice volunteered, "and you're not a burden, we've all hit rock bottom before, so we all get it." He soothed, patting Pixie’s shoulder over the towel.

"Thanks, I was also thinking that the sooner I get working, the sooner I can get on Clay's good side too. That man's a bit of a tough cookie." Pixie thought aloud, making the two men smile.

Half-Sack laughed. "That's for sure. I better get back to helping Bobby, he's got an Elvis gig in Tahoe, see you around, Pixie." Half-Sack smiled and then left Pixie and Juice to sort through the clothes. They found a Sons t-shirt which didn't completely drown Pixie and a pair of Juice's jeans that would fit with a belt. Juice left to go talk with Jax, Tig, Chibs and Clay, so Pixie could have a shower in peace, and for the first time all day, she was finally alone again. She let out a breath and felt a sharp pain in her side. Jax had done a number on her ribcage and she was surprised that they hadn't broken. She turned the shower on and breathed a sigh of relief to find a hairbrush in the cabinet above the sink, she brushed out her plaits and caught her reflection in the mirror which gave her pause. Now she didn't need to squash her emotions, they were flooding out and her face was covered in them. She barely recognised her eyes, they seemed darker, older somehow and haunted by the things she'd seen. Echoes of shouts and screams, bullets and the crashing of furniture reverberated around her head and Pixie collapsed to the floor with a gasp. Although her hands were clean, in her mind they were covered in her father's blood as she clutched him to her chest. She'd watched the light leaving his eyes as he lay gasping up at her, pleading her to leave him and run. She'd watched as her friends and brothers were systematically taken out and she'd fought back with everything that she had. She didn't want to know how many men she'd killed that night, it made her feel sick. She'd had to wash the blood off of herself and her clothes in a petrol station bathroom. She felt so guilty for how things played out, but knew it wasn't her fault at the same time. She'd had so much hope when she had realised that two of her brothers had made it out, a prospect and a long-time member, they'd gotten out together and were hiding out a couple of towns over. Pixie had rushed to them, desperately hoping to get there before the IRA, but to no avail. She'd walked into a bloodbath in that cheap hotel room and had run like a bat out of hell. She hadn't stopped until she'd hit the Manchester charter, then with their help, she was running off again. In a week she must have travelled more than she had ever before. Fearing that her sobs were becoming too loud, Pixie turned on the shower and crawled into the stall, the hot water and steam slowly helped calm her emotions and she started to regain control again. Once her hands stopped shaking, she rinsed her hair and washed it thoroughly, the shampoo smelled of pine needles and although it was unfamiliar to Pixie, like everything else, it was comforting, which further helped her to focus on calming down.

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**Poor Pixie! Let me know what you thought, you beautiful person! -Lulu ♥♥♥**

** **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Pixie! Let me know what you thought, you beautiful person! -Lulu ♥♥♥


	7. Pilot Episode: Chapter 6

Whilst Pixie was getting changed and clean in her new room, the Sons spread out, some going up to the garage, others loitering in the clubhouse or going out for a smoke. "You gonna visit your kid today?" Clay asked Jax as he took a shot with the pool cue, knocking one of the balls into a hole.

"I dunno man, he's having surgery and I don't know how to deal with that. Shit's crazy." Jax confessed, showing his clear distress over the situation, unsure of how to handle it. He looked up at the sound of footsteps and a cleaner looking Pixie emerged putting on her kutte. She was dressed in a black Sons t-shirt which reached down to her mid-thighs, blue jeans with turn-ups on the end of each leg and her purple Doc Martens. She'd tied her hair up in a high ponytail instead of her plaits which looked good on her, Jax thought. He winced when he spotted her cheek which was bruised up properly from the fight.

"Your cheek okay? We got ice packs if you need one?" Jax asked, putting his head to one side in concern. 

"Nah, it doesn't hurt much, it's just pretty gnarly looking at the moment.” Pixie brushed off his uneasiness, making sure Jax didn’t feel bad about their sparring. In truth, she looked forward to doing it again with him. Pixie paused for a moment and Jax sensed Pixie was debating on telling him something, so he cocked an eyebrow and Pixie nodded, deciding to go with it. “I, um, didn't mean to snoop, but I heard you talking about your kid. I hope everything's okay." Pixie said looking worried about what she’d heard.

"That shit's none of your business. Go find Juice and do something useful." Clay barked at her. Pixie flinched at the unexpectedness of his outburst and took a step away from the men, fists clenching at her sides as her fight response was triggered. She let out a breath to steady herself.

"Sorry, boss." Pixie said raising her hands up in a surrendering motion, showing she didn’t mean any harm by what she’d said and wasn’t a threat.

"It's okay, I'll take her." Jax said, putting down his cue. "C'mon darlin'." He beckoned her with his head and Pixie trotted off after him, trying to keep up with his striding gait and glad to be out from under the piercing gaze of Clay Morrow.

"Sorry about that, Clay doesn't like prospects snooping in club business." Jax explained as he lit a cigarette, the pair of them walking up the lot towards the garage.

"I really didn't mean to pry; you have a pretty loud voice, so I heard you as soon as I left my room. I really do hope everything turns out okay with your kid." Pixie described sincerely, she wanted to get across her innocent intentions and make it clear she wasn’t spying.

"Thanks.” Jax nodded. “He's a preemie from a druggie mother, he's also got a hereditary heart defect on top of that. Kid's not gonna survive." Jax told her darkly, a hopeless tone in his voice that shocked Pixie.

She grabbed Jax's arm and spun him around. "Hey, don't write your son off like that, mate. I was a preemie baby too, and look at me now, I'm fine." Pixie told him firmly, her hazel eyes serious and she had a strong tone to her voice as well, showing she believed in her words.

Jax felt touched by Pixie’s concerns and the fact she was sticking up for his baby son, but the subject pained him, so he resorted to humour instead. "Is that why you're a shrimp?" Jax grinned.

Pixie playfully punched his arm. "No, you prat. I'm not that small, I'm five feet two inches. That's just under average, you guys are all overgrown." She grumbled light-heartedly.

"If that's what helps you sleep at night, then sure." Jax chuckled sarcastically, giving Pixie a little push in return. They shoved each other around until they got closer to the garage, both of them feeling really comfortable in each other’s presence.

"Your kid's gonna be fine Jax, with a fighter like you as his dad, nothing's gonna stop him." Pixie reassured him after a moment, her insistence as well as her compassion melted Jax’s heart a little.

"You're a good kid, Pixie, never change." Jax answered with a smile, he patted her shoulder as they walked into the garage and Jax spotted Juice fiddling around with his laptop in the corner. When Juice heard Pixie and Jax’s voices, he jumped up from his spot and came over to them.

"Hey, guys." He greeted them eagerly, giving a semi-awkward wave and a friendly smile.

"Hey, take care of Pixie, I gotta go talk to Opie." Jax informed Juice. Jax realised Pixie had no clue who Opie was, so turned back to her. "He's a tall guy with a beard and a beanie. If you see him around here, he's a friendly guy so feel free to talk to him." Jax clarified. Pixie nodded in understanding, keeping the description in mind. Then Jax left them to it and went back to the clubhouse. Pixie and Juice worked in the garage and did odd jobs until Juice was called into a meeting with the others. Pixie felt tense, not knowing what was happening behind those doors, it felt foreign to her after being deeply involved with her own club's business for so long, but she tried to brush it off, knowing that it would take time for the club to trust her, and even longer for her to see the inside of the meeting room walls. When Juice emerged and came back to the garage, he looked a little tense, but brushed it off when Pixie inquired.

"Some of the guys have to do some business later on tonight, it should be fine, though you might hear them come in pretty late, so don't worry if you hear motorcycle engines." Juice described so Pixie wouldn’t worry too much.

"Okay, hope it goes well.” Pixie told him, patting Juice’s arm. “I cleaned the kettle and the coffee pot, by the way, there was so much limescale in it I was surprised you guys didn't get grit in your drinks." Pixie described, pointing to the office where the supplies were kept.

"Oh really? Thanks, some of the guys are so bad at making coffee, we thought it was to do with that." Juice laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Geez, maybe I better start brewing from now on. Do you guys drink tea as much over here?" Pixie asked, thinking about the cultural differences she might run into coming from west Lancashire to California.

"Nah, only Chibs drinks it. I thought tea was just something elderly ladies drank until I met him." Juice described, wrinkling his nose up a little.

"Really? Back home it was almost exclusively the only thing anyone drank aside from beer." Pixie queried, puzzled.

Juice chuckled. "Wow, well you are British, I guess. I don't really like tea. Chibs made me a cup once, it was gross." Juice stuck his tongue out a little and shook his head which caused Pixie to giggle.

"I'll convert you into a tea drinker, we just have to find you the right blend. Trust me, there's nothing better than coming home after a long day and having a proper cup of tea and a warm Eccles cake." Pixie enthused, patting Juice’s forearm as he leant against a workbench. 

"A _what_?" Juice laughed, raising his eyebrows.

"An Eccles cake? It's a little round flaky pastry cake with currants in it and demerara sugar. They're one of Lancashire's best-known foods and I love them." Pixie described with a happy smile.

"That sounds odd, but to each their own. Maybe you should bake them for us some time?" Juice suggested, sounding hopeful at the prospect of baked goods.

"Sure, I used to cook for my dad when he worked late, I have a great recipe for butter pie." Pixie agreed, reminiscing on simpler times and her heart twinge painfully.

"Okay, now you're making food names up." Juice said laughing, spotting the slight pain in Pixie’s eyes and decided to try and distract with humour. "What the fuck is a butter pie?"

Pixie giggled looking at Juice's perplexed face. "It's real food I swear. It's a pie with potatoes and onions in it, it tastes a lot better than it sounds, I promise." She described eager to interact more with Juice as she found she was enjoying spending time with him more and more.

Juice and Pixie chatted more and played around with each other and helped out around the garage until late, when they watched Clay, Jax, Chibs and Tig leave to do their business. The sound of their motorbikes roaring off into the distance made Pixie feel at home again. She had missed that noise, it always made her feel complete somehow. When it got dark, Pixie decided it was time for bed. She felt utterly exhausted from all the highs and lows of the day, so Juice walked her to her room, before checking in with her one last time and heading home himself. 

Pixie got ready for bed, but didn't feel comfortable in the foreign room, so she decided to fold the laundry she was given to put into the dresser drawers. She picked up a large black Sons hoodie which smelt a bit different from the others. It had the scent of pine needles like the shampoo, but it also had a spicy aftershave scent mixed with motor oil. The smell of it instantly put her at ease and reminded her a little bit of home. Pixie put the hoodie on over the top of the vest top she was wearing and climbed back into bed, the pang of longing for her fallen family came back almost as soon as she lay down, she let the silent tears fall and hugged her pillow, crying herself to sleep. The next thing she knew, she woke up hearing voices and movements from the main part of the clubhouse. Pixie got up and went to her door as the sounds of footsteps heading her way began to get closer, she opened her door and peeped out to see a weary-looking Jax .

"Just me, darlin', it's okay, go back to bed, yeah?" He said quietly, his voice soothing.

"Yeah, night, Jax."

"Night, Pix." Jax smiled before heading into the room two doors down from her.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We reached the end of Episode 1! Please let me know what you thought and leave a star if you liked it, that would mean a lot to me!- Lulu ♥


	8. Author's Note!

** Hey angels! **

T **hank you so, so much for reading this far! The next few chapters will be set in the Seeds episode (episode 2) of season 1. I hope you enjoy reading and please, please let me know you're thoughts, and don't forget to leave a vote if you enjoyed it!**

** \- Lulu ♥♥♥ **


	9. Seeds Episode: Chapter 1

Pixie awoke feeling refreshed after the first night of almost uninterrupted sleep in almost a week. She dressed in a grey reaper t-shirt that was at least three sizes too big for her, Juice’s jeans, a thick black belt and her purple Doc Martens. She then plaited her hair into two long braids, grabbed some cereal from the shelf in her room, and then went looking for milk. As she walked into the main area of the clubhouse, passing the beautiful blue Harley, she caught sight of Jax in a light blue work shirt with the sleeves torn off, nursing a cup of coffee before his morning shift at the garage.

"Yo, you sleep well?" He greeted her with a welcoming smile.

"Yeah, bed's comfy, any milk left?" Pixie asked, Jax pointed to the mini fridge under the bar, so Pixie helped herself. "Thanks, any of the other guys up yet? I'll make the coffees." She queried, putting herself back into her prospect mindset.

"Saw Tig stumbling around a few minutes ago, he likes coffee, Chibs will be arriving any minute, he's a tea drinker." Jax informed her helpfully, Pixie felt more like a friend than a prospect to Jax.

"Ah yes, a fellow tea comrade. I'll get the kettle going then." Pixie grinned, causing Jax to chuckle a little. The pair went into a comfortable silence as Jax thought things through and decided to take a leap with Pixie.

"Saw my kid last night." Jax admitted with a small smile.

Pixie looked up from where she was gathering the mugs. "Yeah? He okay?" She asked casually, knowing this was a big thing for Jax to be opening up, so kept things casual so he didn’t feel pressurised.

"Surgery went well. He'll be in the ICU for months though, he's gotta get big and strong before he can come out of that baby box, they've got him in." Jax relayed the information, sounding a lot more hopeful than he did yesterday, which pleased Pixie.

"You mean the incubator?" Pixie giggled. "That's good, you'll be able to hold him soon then." She acknowledged, seeing If Jax had thought that far ahead.

"Yeah, that's the shit. And I know, it'll be good to get him home, Gemma's excited." Jax answered, a smile growing a little more.

"Gemma?" Pixie asked as she found the tea bags and got the coffee pot going, she didn’t recall the name being any of the people she’d met or heard about so far.

"My mom, she's the powerhouse behind all this, when she's next over here, I'll introduce you." Jax informed her, there seemed to be a close bond between Jax and Gemma from the expression on Jax’s face, but Pixie caught slight tension in his eyes, showing it wasn’t always such a harmonious relationship.

"Oh, of course, I'd love that." Pixie smiled, pouring in the hot water into the mugs and adding milk. "Anyone take sugar?" She asked as she finished up the drinks.

"Men don't take sugar in their coffee." Jax smirked playfully.

"Get out of here with that macho shit.” Pixie bantered back, pointing at Jax with a teaspoon. “The best fighter I ever knew took two spoonsful of sugar in his coffee every time." She told Jax with a grin.

"Really? Who was he?" Jax quizzed, interested to learn more about Pixie.

"Viktor Romanchek, a Highton Son. He was this huge Russian man that doubled as a bouncer when we had parties or events, he worked as a mechanic for us too. The only guy my dad ever trusted with his bike. He was the one who taught me how to box." Pixie elaborated. Her love for this man was evident in the way she spoke and the way her eyes looked so sad until she shook it off.

"That's pretty cool. He taught you well and I've got the bruises to prove it." Jax joked, before he and Pixie started teasing each other and getting to know one another better. Eventually, Tig appeared from outside with Chibs in tow and the two men came to the bar, probably just getting done with their morning smoke.

"I smell coffee, gimme." Tig grinned at Pixie, then yawned, stretching his strong arms under his navy-blue shirt.

"Where are your manners, Mr Trager? What's the magic word?" Pixie giggled in response as Tig sat down.

Tig made a show of rolling his eyes, then sticking out his bottom lip in a mock pout as he rested his chin on his left hand, elbow on the bar. "Please?" He asked in an imitation of a child’s voice that had Pixie giggling hard.

"Bingo, there you go." Pixie passed him a cup of coffee which he eagerly sipped, giving Pixie a little wink.

"Have you got any tea, lass?" Chibs queried, looking hopeful whilst he appeared to be assessing Pixie’s form, seeing what kind of mood she was in and how freely she was moving around, making sure any lasting damage from her fight with Jax wasn’t too severe.

"Did you even have to ask, mate? I'm from Britain." Pixie giggled, handing Chibs the tea mug she’d set aside for him. Chibs eyed the brew and took a small gulp before a huge grin spread across his face.

"Now tha’ is a proper brew. I knew there was a reason to keep ye around ye beautiful bonnie!" He declared triumphantly making Pixie blush a little under the unexpected praise and how it had been delivered with such Scottish gusto.

“Glad I got it right.” Pixie smiled, pleased she'd managed to make Chibs' morning a little brighter. After a while, the men finished their drinks and headed off to work, Pixie washed the cups and then she went to go work in the garage too. She ended up mopping up oil spills and fetching tools for various mechanics, making sure they knew they could rely on her, but she wasn’t stepping on toes. When a motorcycle drove into the lot with a bearded man as the driver, Pixie wondered if this was Jax’s friend. She looked across to where Jax was taking off a piece of a car that needed welding. "That Opie?" She quizzed, Jax looked up and grinned.

"Yeah, that's him. I told him about you last night, he thought I was joking." Jax smirked. He called his best friend over once Opie had parked up. "Hey, Ope, this is Pixie." He introduced, gesturing to where Pixie gave him a little wave.

"You serious?" Opie grinned, walking over to them. Pixie leant the broom she was using against the wall and gave Opie her full attention and a friendly smile. Opie was very tall, around six foot four, had a bushy brown beard, light brown eyes and a broad stature, making him look quite formidable, but there was a softness and a gentleness to him at the same time, his eyes were thoughtful too.

"Yeah. I got a kutte don't I?" Pixie replied, gesturing to her pink kutte. She hadn’t felt comfortable taking it off for her garage work, needing it to feel a sense of security.

"Didn't know pink was a Sons colour, Maybe I ought to get myself one." Opie joked with a slight chuckled, folding his arms across his chest.

"Totally, I think Fuchsia pink would suit you best." Pixie giggled, trying to imagine it.

"Yeah, get one with frills." Jax chuckled, joining in and glad to see Pixie and Opie were getting on well.

"How long you been a Sons for?" Opie asked, raising an eyebrow as he took in Pixie, eyeing her up.

"Six years, roughly speaking." Pixie replied confidently.

Opie's eyebrows disappeared into his beanie. "What? When did you join? Kindergarten?"

Jax grinned, bemused at his best friend’s wording. "That's what I thought."

Pixie rolled her eyes. "I joined when I was sixteen. Worked my way up to VP last year, I'm twenty-two now."

"Oh, now you're just fucking with me. _VP_? No way." Opie scoffed, laughing.

Pixie reached into her pocket on her kutte and pulled out the patches, passing them to Opie. "Look, I have proof." She giggled. She liked Opie's laugh, it was deep and joyful and when he chuckled, the worry lines on his face went away and he looked a lot younger.

Opie inspected the patches with a keen eye. "Wow, these are legit. Where was your charter again?" He queried, wanting to get to know Pixie more.

"Highton, a small town on the west Lancashire coast of England, About an hour away from Manchester." Pixie informed him, watching Opie look befuddled again.

"That's a long way from here." He commented, sounding a little concerned that Pixie had come all this way alone.

"Over sixteen hours of flying. Drained my bank account, but I couldn't stay where I was, IRA want me dead." Pixie admitted putting trust in the fact that Opie had a kutte. 

"You have family over here?" Opie asked, thinking about how young Pixie was.

"No, just you guys. I have relatives back in Wales in the UK, but I haven't seen them in over twelve years. Plus, I wasn't about to drag innocent people into this." She told the men, showing her strong resolve.

"Good on you. Well, welcome to Charming. I was gonna ask if you'd really taken Jax on in the ring, but that bruise on your cheek the size of his fist answered that for me. I'm impressed, hopefully, you managed to knock some sense into this knucklehead." Opie grinned and dipped as Jax swung at him. The two men scuffled for a second before breaking up.

"Hey, you babysit?" Opie asked Pixie out of interest.

"Yeah, used to take care of some of the Sons' kids back home. Why?" She commented with a little shrug.

"Just wondering. I got two kids of my own, been thinking about trying to get into my wife's good books again. Maybe taking her out on a date might be a good way to do it." Opie explained a little sheepishly.

"Sure, anything to help a brother get out of the doghouse. What got you there in the first place?" Pixie asked, making conversation, wanting to get to know Opie more.

"Went to jail." Opie said gruffly and bluntly.

"Oh, well that'll put a damper on the relationship.” Pixie said a little awkwardly. “Try not to end up there again, yeah? I'm free at any point really, and I'm living in one of the dorms, so come find me whenever you need. It's not like I have much going on except picking up after you lot, you messy Herberts." She described, making sure Opie knew he could reach out if he needed.

"Herberts?" Jax grinned, perplexed as she raised an eyebrow.

"English slang for idiots." Pixie giggled, realising her slang wasn’t universal.

Opie laughed. "You learn something new every day. Anyway, I got things to do, later." He smiled briefly and wandered off onto the lot.

"Get back to work, _Herbert_." Jax chuckled and playfully shoved Pixie as he went to the welding bench. Pixie finished sweeping the floor, then headed inside to tackle the laundry. As she wandered off, she spotted Bobby coming in on his motorbike clutching a brown paper bag. "Got the good shit." He called over to Jax as he pulled up.

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"Shit's addictive. Turning me into a fat bastard!" Pixie heard Chib's voice from up the corridor in the clubhouse and giggled to herself as she loaded the washing machine with towels and clothing, then set it to go. She walked back to the bar area and found Opie sat at the bar. Bobby came over to the fridge. Instinctively, Pixie opened it and handed him a beer.

"Thanks, darlin'." He grinned before walking back to the others. Growing up with the Sons, taught Pixie that beer was a morning, afternoon, and evening drink. She grabbed one for Opie and passed it to him as well. He seemed hesitant to be around the others, like an outsider looking in. _Boy, do I know that feeling_ , Pixie thought to herself.

"Morning kids. Deal with the Niners has officially closed." Clay's voice sounded from the entrance as he came in with Tig in tow. Pixie kept her head down, not wanting to seem like she was snooping. Tig automatically headed to the bar, so she got him a beer too, guessing that was what he needed.

"Thanks, you okay?" He murmured to her, taking the beer from Pixie’s hand and his strong fingers brushed against Pixie’s, Tig’s blue eyes turned soft at this and he smiled a little at Pixie who blushed.

"Yeah, go do your thing." She smiled in return. Satisfied, Tig wandered back to the others.

"Spoke to Laroy, and he is _giddy_ about his new assault rifles." Clay smiled whilst tossing envelopes at Jax, Chibs and the others, but not Opie, who was left to stare wistfully at the envelopes. Pixie guessed he was in deep money trouble and her heart went out to the guy.

"Spend it wisely, boys." Clay warned. "Might be awhile before we see any gun green." he said before taking a seat. Pixie finished cleaning up the bar top and waited for a good time to grab the empty beer bottles and sweep the muffin crumbs from the counter, lord knows why they didn't use a plate. A grin spread across her face as Juice came through the door, she hadn't seen him yet today, he looked a little tense and in full business mode.

"I just got an update from my city hall snitch." He looked over to where Pixie stood at the bar, gave a small smile and then turned back to Clay. "Looks like Hale's got a warrant to search our warehouse." Juice said. Jax looked up from counting his money with a look that said all Pixie needed to know. Trouble was coming. Clay took a deep breath and sighed.

"Shit. Well, guess I'll be paying our friend Unser a visit." Clay grunted, brushing a hand through his hair.

The men cleared up the bag and money envelopes and filed out, Opie looking pensive, which worried Pixie a little. Juice hung back and came to the bar, watching Pixie observe everyone with those intense hazel eyes of hers.

"Hey, how's it hanging?" Juice greeted, giving Pixie a fist bump, her fingers brushing against his gold skull rings.

"Good, though it looks like your day isn't going too well." Pixie replied, gesturing to where the men had been sitting moments before.

"Yeah, I don't know whether I should tell you this, but I trust you.” Juice decided, looking around himself and then back at Pixie. “We had a gun warehouse just outside of town, it was attacked by a rival MC, the Mayans, they set the place on fire, the day before you arrived and it exploded, propane tanks." He described in a hushed tone.

"Oh shit." Pixie said, raising her eyebrows. "Is that what last night's run was about?" She asked, glad to have some kind of clue as to what was going on around her.

"Yeah, let’s just say a little revenge was dished out. But now the cops are crawling all over the warehouse site, Clay's doing his best to turn their heads away, but Hale, the new deputy, is getting a little overzealous." Juice elaborated, watching Pixie take in the information, her thoughts almost visible in her eyes.

"Least you found out before he did anything, nice work, intel guy." Pixie said, giving him a pat on the shoulder. Juice didn’t look like he was used to compliments and grinned widely, shuffling a little under Pixie’s gaze.

"Thanks, I'm also a hacker guy too, anything to do with tech, I'm all over it.” Juice confessed eagerly. “Speaking of which." Juice paused, pulling something out of his pocket. "This is for you. Realised you didn't have a phone, so I snagged this one for you, it's got everyone's numbers in it, and it's one I can easily track, just in case you get into more trouble than you can manage." Juice told her, watching Pixie’s eyes go wide as she hadn’t expected generosity of any kind.

Pixie took the silver clamshell phone and smiled. "Juice! This is amazing, thank you, mate. I had to kill the phone I had before I left in case the IRA tracked it." Pixie told him, feeling a little more like things were returning to normal.

"I thought that was the case, you must have had to leave everything behind, huh?" Juice sympathised, feeling empathy for how Pixie must be feeling having left everything that was familiar to her behind, thousands of miles away.

"Yep, I have a memory stick of photos I managed to grab from my room before I left, the clothes I came in, and a few random objects that happened to be in my backpack at the time." Pixie described, trying not to sound sad about it.

"Wow, I'm sorry, Pix. Maybe I could take a look at that memory stick and see if I can get the photos off it? I could back them up for you, so they won't be lost, and then maybe print them out so you have pictures for your room." Juice offered, trying to find a way to ease Pixie’s pain.

Pixie gasped, feeling honoured and reached across to grasp Juice’s hand in thanks. "I would love that; it might help me cope a little easier." She admitted, feeling like she could open up a little more to Juice.

"Sure thing, I'll come get it from you later, yeah? And if you need to talk, my number's on there." Juice agreed, squeezing Pixie’s fingers for a moment to comfort her before he let them go and Pixie retracted her hand.

"Thanks, Juice, you're the best." Pixie grinned, feeling some of the tightness in her chest ease just a little more.

"Nah." Juice grinned, gave a wave and then wandered out, getting back to business. Pixie smiled to herself and popped the phone into her kutte pocket. She cleaned the bar area, deep in thought before she moved to go collect the bottles from the tables. As she walked past the door, head down and deep in her mind, she abruptly collided with Tig as he stalked through the door, also deep in thought with his head up so he didn’t see Pixie cross his path until they smacked into each other. He grabbed her on instinct, and Pixie threw a punch which was also completely instinctual, her fight response triggered from the collision. Tig grabbed her fist just in time, enveloping it in his big hand, blocking it, and moving it away from his face slowly as Pixie looked up at him like a startled cat.

"It's just me, Pixie, you're alright." Tig reassured her slowly, smiling a little as he saw the recognition in Pixie’s eyes and gently lowered the fist he was holding until it was back down at her side, hand lingering a little as he used his other hand to steady Pixie’s other upper arm as they stood chest to chest.

Pixie's eyes widened as she realised that she’d almost punched her new Sergeant-At-Arms in the face. " _Tig_! I’m so sorry! Oh my god are you okay?" Pixie asked him, giggling at the situation she’d found herself in and felt relief that Tig was also grinning.

Tig chuckled. "Yeah, you didn't get me, doll, thankfully.” Tig assured her. “Though it might've been better if you'd actually knocked me out." He added, shaking his head and looking over Pixie’s head for a second.

Pixie pulled away from him slightly to get a better look at his face. "Why? What's up, mate?" She asked him gently, showing clear concern.

Tig took a breath, deliberating on whether he should tell Pixie or not. "I've just something on my mind." He attempted to brush off, expecting Pixie to back off the subject like the others would normally do.

"Talk to me, c'mon, I was a VP at my last charter, I can keep things confidential." Pixie insisted instead, grabbed his wrist around his thick leather cuff with the silver buckle, and towed him over to the chairs so they could both sit down. Tig was surprised at this, but there was something about Pixie that just settled him, and he felt comfortable around her.

"Okay, I did something on impulse without thinking about the potential consequences, and now it could potentially blow back on the club." Tig confessed, resting his left elbow on the table and rubbing his temple, stretching his long legs out in front of him, either side of Pixie’s chair as she drew her left leg up so her foot was on the chair and her leg was resting against her chest.

"Have you told Clay?" Pixie queried, seeing how serious the situation was.

"Not yet, I was hoping I wouldn't have to, but the shit's hitting the fan from all directions and if I don't, it could get even messier." Tig replied, sounding frustrated and downcast. Pixie worried a little over the fact Tig wasn’t comfortable admitting his mistakes to Clay, a good president needed to have a level of trust with his brothers where they could tell him things and know that the president would help them deal with it.

"It'll be okay, Tig, how bad is the thing you did?" Pixie comforted him, seeing if Tig would open up a little bit more, it certainly looked like he needed to.

"It wasn't too bad at the time, it's all the other shit that happened that's made it a whole lot worse. If we don't find a way to fix it, cops are gonna get involved and will try to tear the club down. I'm stupid for doing what I did, but I wasn't thinking straight at the time." Tig elaborated, trying to keep things vague, but gave Pixie enough of an understanding to where she could get the general gist of the situation.

"Hey, I don't think you're stupid. Talk to Clay. It sounds like that Hale guy's just looking for some way to break the club, so you need to tell Clay what's going on so you can stay one step ahead of Hale." Pixie soothed him, watching Tig rub his temple and Pixie fiddled with her bootlaces.

Tig rubbed his hands over his face. "Yeah, I guess." He admitted half-heartedly. And Pixie really wished she could give him a hug, but knew their friendship wasn’t quite there yet.

Instead, Pixie leant over and gently pulled his hands away from his face, holding his hands. "Hey, it's gonna be okay.” Pixie told him softly, with an encouraging smile. “From what I've heard hearing stories about the founding charter growing up, this club's been through a lot and has come up on top each time, so they'll be able to fix whatever mess you made, and all the other messes that happened with it. I only have a rough idea of what's happening now, but if you need help, or someone to talk things through with, then I'm here. Don't forget that I used to be VP for my old club, so I know a thing or two that could help." Pixie told him, showing compassion that Tig was not at all used to, but intensely grateful for all the same.

Tig gave her a smile. "Thanks, darlin', I do feel a little better getting it off my chest. I'll talk to Clay when he's done with Gemma." He decided as Pixie let go of his hands and Tig wished they’d stayed a little longer.

"Good on you." Pixie grinned, she got up and went to the bar, opened a cupboard and took out a chocolate bar. "Here, for good luck.” She tossed it to him. Tig caught it and chuckled. “Also, chocolate always makes me feel a little better when I'm stressed." Pixie admitted, watching Tig tuck the candy in the pocket of his kutte and smiled and the gesture.

"Good idea, doll. I gotta go sort something with Clay then, I'll see you in a bit, yeah?" Tig questioned, sounding a little hopeful.

"Yeah, good luck." Pixie beamed as Tig got up and left. She felt good that she'd been able to clear his conscience a little and hoped her new club wasn't in too much danger.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	10. Seeds Episode: Chapter 2

As Pixie worked in the garage, she knew she needed something to take her mind off the trouble Tig and the others had got themselves into. The VP in her wanted to pry out the information and work to fix it, but she was a prospect here and most likely, her efforts to help would only rub Clay the wrong way. He seemed like the kind of guy that liked people to stay in their own lanes so, Pixie knew she had to at least hold back until she was fully patched. When she finished her shift in the garage and headed across the lot to the clubhouse and surveyed the main room. There were cobwebs in the corners of the room, dust on the picture frames and the floor was... _sticky_. Not to mention that when she picked up an ashtray from the bar to empty it, she spotted the ring underneath it and realised that the bar wasn't supposed to be dark brown. It was supposed to be russet colour but was covered in so much grime it had become much darker. Pixie rolled up her sleeves and went searching for the utility closet.

Pixie was mopping the floor when the door opened. "Hey, watch out, floors wet." She called out and looked up to see a beautiful older woman. She had brown hair with chunky blonde highlights, sun-kissed skin and gorgeous brown eyes. She was dressed in skinny black jeans, knee-high black boots, a black lace top and a black leather jacket. There were silver hoops in her ears and a glitter silver cross around her neck.

"Crow eaters mop the floor now?" The woman asked with a scowl, openly analysing Pixie and judging her from the sour look on the woman’s face.

"No, I'm a member, are you Gemma?" Pixie straightened up and walked carefully over to where the lady still stood on the doormat, eager to make a good impression and a potential friend.

"Yeah, are you the British bimbo?" Gemma replied with a dark look in her green eyes as she stared the smaller woman down.

Pixie grimaced but didn't fight back. "Pixie. Nice to meet you, Gemma."

Gemma nodded and walked forwards, not wiping her shoes on the mat. Pixie sighed watching as the dirt off the soles of her shoes mixed with the damp floor. "You sleeping with anyone?"

"Excuse me?" Pixie looked up from the floor and over to where Gemma lit up a cigarette at the bar.

"You heard me." Gemma said, challenging Pixie, a look of passive-aggressiveness on her face.

"No, I'm not sleeping with anyone, not that that's any of your business." Pixie retorted bluntly, brows furrowing as she tried to make sense of the situation and why Gemma was blatantly attacking her character.

Gemma’s face warped into a sneer. "It is my business when the club's concerned, I'm just making sure no one's being swayed by British pu-"

Pixie cut Gemma off. "That is _not_ my intention. I want to earn a place here fair and square; I'm doing my time as a prospect just like anyone else." She snapped back, growing tired of being persecuted just for being around the Charming Sons.

Gemma narrowed her eyes as she took a drag of her cigarette, watching Pixie as she came closer, abandoning her mopping until she could get Gemma back out the clubhouse again. "How did you even become a Son in the first place?" Gemma asked suspiciously, trying to get a feel for Pixie’s personality and not liking how Pixie wasn’t backing down, instead looking up at her with strong hazel eyes and a stubborn scowl.

"I was voted in, same as anyone else." Pixie explained calmly, really trying to reign herself in, so she didn’t do anything she’d regret.

"Sure, they weren't just keeping you around because you were their favourite thing to tap?" Gemma asked with a sinister smile, seeing the rage flicker in Pixie’s eyes, expecting the younger woman to scream or storm out.

Pixie knew Gemma was trying to get a rise out of her, and she felt disappointed in herself for taking the bait, but she couldn't let that comment lie. She stalked forward, pinning Gemma up against the bar as Gemma tried to back up from the furious way Pixie stormed forwards.

"I don't know what your fucking problem is, considering I've known you all of five minutes, but if you ever, _ever_ talk about my family again like that, there will be hell to pay. So, you better tone the fuck down." Pixie growled like a cat giving its last warning before the claws came out, mouth twisting into a snarl.

"You don't get to talk to me like that, bitch.” Gemma bit back, putting all her authority into her words and by pulling herself up to her full height of five foot nine inches. “If you don't want to find yourself out on the curb, you'll treat me with respect and stay away from Clay." Gemma hissed; her eyes fiery.

In the back of Pixie’s mind, her internal monologue was basically just yelling ‘ _what the fuck?!_ ’ as she tried to comprehend what she possibly could have done to Clay to make Gemma react like this. She’d barely said five words to him. Pixie guessed Gemma was just trying to jump down her throat before Pixie made a move, not that Pixie would have even considered doing that, Clay wasn’t her type and he was also clearly married, and Pixie wasn’t about that. "You don't scare me, lady.” Pixie fired back. “If you're going to speak disrespectfully to me, then don't get your knickers in a twist when I fire back. I've barely said anything to Clay since I got here, so you need to get over the fact that you're so insecure about your relationship that you're threatened by any female in a ten-mile radius of Clay." Pixie spat back, _who did this woman think she is?_ Pixie thought to herself.

"You little bitch! You don't know me." Gemma retorted, angered that Pixie wasn’t backing away from her.

"And you don't know me! So, leave me alone and stop trying to stir up trouble when there isn't any to begin with. The clubs under enough stress as it is." Pixie replied, feeling her rage starting to boil under her skin.

"What do you know about the club's dealings, _Prospect_? You been spying on them?" Gemma narrowed her eyes and put her right hand on her hip, looking like a queen of darkness.

"What? No!” Pixie yelled out, baffled by the encounter before she took a breath and tried to calm down. “Look, Gemma, I've dealt with jealous old ladies before, and I'm not going to stand here and take any of your crap. So, go away, and get over the fact that you're jealous I got to be a Son and you didn't." Gemma's eyes went wide, taken aback by Pixie's ferocity and her cutting words, then she smirked.

Pixie half-expected the slap that Gemma delivered to her face, her ring's stung, but Pixie gave no reaction or response, not wanting to give Gemma that satisfaction. "If you have a problem with what I've got to say, why don't you just hit me back?" Gemma said, smiling wickedly.

"Because that's precisely what you want me to do. You want me to lash out so you can go crying off to Clay and get me kicked out, and I won't let you have that satisfaction. So, what I'm gonna do, is treat you with respect, be polite and help you with whatever you need, because I don't play dirty, unlike you, but you need to leave me alone or I will fight back." Pixie replied, deploying all the self-restraint she could muster to refrain from hauling back and punching Gemma.

"That hardly sounds like a threat to me." Gemma raised an eyebrow, trying to see what Pixie’s angle was and struggling to interpret it as Gemma was used to full on fights, not diplomats.

A sinister grin spread across Pixie's face. "That's because it isn't, sweetie. But you cross me again and you won't even see me coming."

Pixie moved aside so Gemma could storm off back outside, furious she couldn't manipulate Pixie. Pixie took a deep, calming breath. " _What a bitch_." she muttered, shaking her head. She refilled the mop bucket with cleaning fluid and water and got back to her task for the day.

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie pushed the bothersome encounter with Gemma from her mind as she focused on making the clubhouse floors shine, determined not to let the encounter get the better of her. As Pixie got done mopping the floor, she heard a motorcycle engine gun into the lot and went quiet. Then, a minute later, Jax headed through the door.

"Hey, Pix. You a'ight?" He greeted, hands in his blue jean pockets and a friendly smile on his face. Pixie was glad to see him after her Gemma encounter as Jax was beginning to feel like a really good friend.

"Yeah, wipe your shoes, I just cleaned the floors." Pixie gave him a heads up, pointing to the mop bucket and mop she was getting ready to clear away.

"Rodger. Just a heads up, you need to go work in the garage for a couple of hours." Jax told her as he made a show of wiping his shoes on the brown welcome mat to make Pixie smile.

"Should I be concerned?" Pixie queried, looking up at Jax as he made his way to his room, she tensed up a little, concerned Jax was in trouble like Tig.

"Nah, I'm just having a _private_ meeting with a lady called Emily." Jax assured her, turning around and walking backwards, raising his eyebrows a little to help get what he was really stating across.

Pixie got the hint. "Sure, garage work it is, have fun." Pixie grabbed a water bottle and made a hasty exit.

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** So what do you think of this chapter? I'll start to be moving away from the episodes and more into the AU after this point, and will fully do so after episode 3. What do you think of the showdown with Pixie and Gemma? - Lulu ♥♥♥ **


	11. Seeds Episode: Chapter 3

It was late evening by the time all the guys came back to the clubhouse from all being out on the road sorting all the chaos that had unfolded after the Mayans had taken down the gun warehouse. Clay came through the door chatting to Bobby who immediately halted in his tracks and looked wildly around the clubhouse.

"Sweet Jesus, what happened here?" Bobby exclaimed looking around at the immaculate room. It was definitely not how the men had left it this morning, and it looked almost unrecognisable.

"Dunno, but I can see my reflection on the floor." Clay said with a grin, glancing down at the shine on the dark wood floor. He had to admit he was impressed; it was a very long time since the clubhouse had looked this good. The rest of the guys followed in after and inspected the bar room, taking in the polished wood of the bar, the floor, the pool tables, all the small dining tables and the chairs.

"Cues have been polished." Juice called from the pool tables as he’d headed there first, it looked like someone had taken a lint roller to the felt on the pool tables too, which was a very nice touch, Juice thought.

"Hey look, no cobwebs." Jax grinned, pointing up at the ceiling and the corners of the walls. "Some of those were older than me." He joked, thinking about how thick with dust some of them had been, resembling clouds instead of the fine webs.

"Anyone know who did this?" Clay asked, inspecting the bar which had been polished and buffed to perfection, the top was so smooth he couldn’t help but run his fingers along it, and the chrome edging had been polished too. As he looked around, he realised nothing had been left untouched, everything was now immaculate. Even the reapers on the walls had been cleaned too.

"Gemma?" Tig asked, looking at the Harley clock on the wall which was actually telling the correct time for the first time in four years. All the picture frames had been dusted and buffed too.

"Nah, she's been up at the hospital most of the day with Abel." Jax informed him, looking at the couches where the fabric looked clean and smelt fresh too. "Pixie was mopping the floor earlier.” He recalled as he came to the bar to stand next to Clay. “Hey, I didn't know these ash trays were red, I thought they were brown." Jax put in distractedly, picking up a pottery ashtray and inspecting how flawless it was now.

"Tha only one who's been here all day is Pixie, it's gotta be her." Chibs suggested, looking at the alcohol display behind the bar and seeing someone had organised it by type and then alphabetically by name. "Where’s tha wee devil anyway?" He queried, looking around the bar room.

Clay shrugged, cleared his throat and then bellowed. " _PIXIE_." There was a crash from the utility room and Pixie came stumbling out clutching her heart and looking around wide-eyed. The men chuckled at her startled expression as she'd clearly been caught off guard.

"I think you just took ten years off me. _Jesus_." Pixie exclaimed as she scooted down the corridor to greet the Sons. "Is everything okay?" She asked in an anxious tone, hoping she wasn’t in trouble.

"Yeah, you cleaned all this?" Clay asked, patting the bar and gesturing to the area around them.

"And changed the sheets, the coffee filter, fixed the heating, and the plumbing. Not gonna lie, the last one was pretty gross, and you guys need more fiber in your diet." Pixie listed, she looked tired, but in high spirits, glad her hard work had paid off as the guys chuckled at her remark.

"I don't think this place was this clean when it was first built. Good job, kid." Clay responded, patting her on the shoulder. Pixie was surprised to hear this complement from Clay, and hoped it meant he was warming to her. "You didn't go in the church, did you?" He added, looking down at Pixie’s face to check she was telling the truth.

"Thanks, and no way. That room's invitation only and I didn't want to overstep." Pixie replied immediately, showing she wasn’t about to be making any novice mistakes any time soon.

"Good lass." Chibs grinned at her warmly and Pixie felt pleased that she’d done something right.

"You're putting me to shame." Half-Sack joked, giving her a playful nudge as he and Juice came over to give her a high-five.

Pixie giggled, happy to be around the younger Sons, until she caught a sickeningly familiar scent. "No offense, but why do you two smell like death?" She asked, taking a little step away from them with a perplexed expression on her face.

Half-Sack sniffed his black jacket and grimaced. "Gross, I'll go take a shower. You really don't want to know what we've been doing.” He warned Pixie, taking a hasty step back from her as he could see it was definitely worrying Pixie.

"Got any bleach left? I think I need a bath." Juice shuddered as he sniffed his shoulder and shook his head.

"You'll be fine.” Pixie reassured them both. “Go use the showers, There's enough clean clothes for you two in the utility room. Either one of you can use my shower if you need to, just don't leave a mess or I'll hunt you down." Pixie smiled, shooing them off. Once they disappeared, she turned on her heels and went to the bar. "Beers anyone? I fixed the fridge too by the way, so it should actually make them cold and fresh now." She commented.

"I love this kid!" Chibs cheered, taking a seat at the bar as Pixie handed everyone a beer. She caught sight of Jax up close, and her eyes went wide, going back to feeling worried.

"Jax, you've got blood on your neck, you been getting busy with a vampire?" Pixie giggled, seeing the blood was dried and not a serious wound.

Jax wiped the side of his neck with his hand, rubbing the blood off of it. "Nah, it's not mine, so you don't have to call Buffy." He chuckled. "Though she can get busy with me, anytime." He added with a cocky grin. The other's chuckled and moved up the bar so there was space for him there. He made to put his hand down on the bar top so he could sit, and Pixie was on him in a flash, smacking his hand away with a towel.

"Don't you dare put your bloody hand down on my clean bar, Jax Teller!" She warned him. Jax cleaned his hand off on his jeans, accompanied by "ooohs" from the others.

"Oh, it's your bar now is it?" He grinned, keen to play around with Pixie again, finding he enjoyed bantering with her a lot, and after today, he really needed to destress.

"Hell yeah, I scraped over thirty years of grime off of her, we've been through some shit, we bonded." Pixie retorted, causing laughs from the others as she affectionately patted the bar top.

" _Her_? Think you've been inhaling too much cleaning products." Jax joked, taking a swig of his beer.

"Yeah, the bar's female and she told me her secrets." Pixie went on, grinning, gaining the other Sons’ full attention.

Tig chuckled which set the others off. "I think if this bar could talk it would scream and call us alcoholics." He put in before taking a hearty drink of his beer.

"Might be related to my ex-wife." Bobby added with a smile as he settled himself against the bar.

"Which one?" Clay chuckled, producing an eye roll from Bobby and a grumble.

"Nah, I'm serious, the bar has titties." Pixie said emphatically, bringing the focus back. The other Sons stared at her again, trying to figure out what she was talking about.

"What?!" Jax laughed when he saw Pixie wasn’t joking, despite her giggles.

Pixie went around the bar and made a shooing motion at Tig who got up from the chair and moved aside with an amused expression on his face. Pixie got down on the floor and slid back up against the bar, so she could see under the lip. "There's a carving of some titties under here, next to a ‘Jax wuz here’ was this your doing?" Pixie announced to the Sons as she peered up at Jax.

Jax squatted down, gazed underneath the bar and laughed. "I forgot about this! Me and Ope got drunk just before we prospected in and decided to leave a little note. Ope did the tits. I gotta tell him. This shit's funny." Jax stood up and moved aside so Pixie could get up off the floor. Tig put his hand out and helped Pixie stand up, noting the little blush she got when their hands connected.

"The bar's had tits all this time and we didn't know? Lemme see." Tig said getting down to have a look. "Nice, I gotta commend Opie on his carving skills." He grinned, standing up again and feeling relaxed over how well Pixie had slotted in with the other Sons.

"You wanna tell me what you two dumbasses were doing drunk at the clubhouse _before_ you prospected in?" Clay growled, glaring at Jax who sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

Jax chuckled. "We were like sixteen, maybe? We decided to come down to look for Piney, couldn't find him and everyone was out. Then we noticed there were two cases of beer by the floor, some kind of delivery. So, what sixteen-year olds are gonna pass up unattended liquor? We drank a whole case each, got wildly drunk, and left a little message before stumbling out before either of us upchucked and hid the cases. Surprised none of you caught on to what we did until now."

" _You_ took those beers? We never worked out what happened to those." Clay shook his head, slightly impressed that Jax and Opie had managed to pull that stunt off.

"A whole club of full-grown men couldn't figure out that two local teens took their beer? It seems pretty obvious to me." Pixie grinned as she playfully nudged Jax and he bopped her back.

"Why? You get up to mischief when you were a teen?" Clay asked, interested to learn more about Pixie’s character.

"Maybe..." Pixie said ominously before she looked down and her relaxed smile slipped away. "Chibs, please go wipe your boots off on the mat, they're making mud marks on the barstool." Pixie said glancing down at his boots, her tone disapproving and slightly frustrated. When Chibs looked over at her, Pixie put her hands on her hips and stared at him.

"Oof, I know that look, go wipe 'em off, Chibs, Pixie's about to have your head." Clay laughed. "Gemma gives me that same look." He added as Chibs got up and walked over to the mat, the mud, now drying on his boots, fell off in little clumps as he walked. There was nothing but disappointment on Pixie's face as she gave a deep sigh and went to get the broom. Chibs couldn’t help but feel guilty over Pixie putting so much effort into getting the clubhouse to an immaculate standard and then he’d forgotten to wipe his boots off. So, when Pixie reappeared Chib's took the broom off her gently and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry, lass. I'll clean this up." He told her softly, giving her an apologetic smile, which took Pixie by surprise due to her being the new prospect, she just expected to be the one to clean up after everyone.

"Are you sure?" She asked Chibs doubtfully, showing that even though Pixie was making efforts to get along with the Sons, there was still a level of trust that they hadn’t reached with Pixie yet.

"Aye, need to learn my lesson." Chibs smiled warmly, brown eyes softening as he studied Pixie’s hazel pair and saw the relief and the gratitude there for Chibs tidying up after himself and acknowledging her work. Pixie smiled and nodded, going back to the bar to round up the empty beer bottles and get more from the fridge. Once she’d done that and began handing out the next round, Half-Sack reappeared looking a lot cleaner, and with a fresh change of clothes.

"Feeling better?" Pixie asked him as she handed a bottle to Half-Sack and gave him a friendly smile.

"Oh yeah, I had soil in places I didn't even know you could get soil." Half-Sack shuddered, taking a sip and chilling out a bit more.

"You know the more you speak the more questions pop up in my mind that I'm not even sure I want the answers to." Pixie laughed, causing Half-Sack to join in with her as she patted his back.

"Yeah, that happens a lot with him." Clay put in, overhearing the two prospects interact. Half-Sack ducked his head at Clay’s voice, tensing a little. Pixie saw the subconscious movements and playfully nudged him, showing she supported him.

"I'll take over the bar from here if you want to chill out?" Half-Sack offered, thinking about how hard Pixie must have worked today and deciding she needed a break, since he’d just had one.

"Really? Thanks, mate." Pixie grinned appreciatively and gave his hand a squeeze before she stepped out from behind the bar.

"No biggie." Half-Sack grinned and moved past her to continue the prospect duties. Pixie wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her unexpected free time, so was grateful when she spotted Juice wandering back down the hallway, feeling comfortable enough to hang out with him, so made her way over.

"Hey, I put my dirty laundry in the hamper in the utility room, is that okay?" Juice asked when Pixie bounced over to him, her energetic movement causing him to smile.

"Yeah, that's amazing, thanks. How was your day?" Pixie asked him as they walked through the bar area together.

"It was chaotic, but fun. You really did a good job with this place, seriously, I've never seen it this clean." Juice grinned, he no longer felt triggered being in the clubhouse and was so relieved he could chill out here properly.

"Thanks, I'm just hoping I can maintain it to this standard, may have to fight people with a mop." Pixie joked, doing an imitation of a karate move.

Juice laughed at the image. "Are you skilled with a mop?" He teased Pixie, joining in with the little hand-chop motion she made. Hanging around Pixie made Juice feel like a kid again, she just had a bouncy energy to her that he warmed to.

"I prefer knives, but yeah." Pixie quipped. She looked over to the free pool table next to where Tig and Chibs were playing themselves and she got a mischievous idea. "Fancy a game?" She offered, looking up at Juice with a sweet smile.

"Sure, what are the stakes?" Juice grinned getting two cues for him and Pixie, glad to be playing around with her more.

"Hm, if I win, you have to clean the bathroom all next week." Pixie grinned cheekily, seeing what she could get away with.

"Ew, and if I win, you'll do what?" Juice laughed, deciding that the name ‘Pixie’ really did fit this kid, watching Pixie set up the balls in the triangle.

"I'll buy you a case of beer." Pixie offered with a little smile and a raise of an eyebrow.

"Make it a bottle of tequila and you're on." Juice grinned, helping Pixie set everything up. They shook on it and began the game by Juice flipping a quarter to see who would go first. Juice wouldn't exactly call himself a novice at pool, he played at the clubhouse regularly and had gotten pretty good at it. He wasn't prepared, however, for how quickly he felt out of his depth by watching Pixie sink her balls. Even Tig and Chibs had stopped playing and the others had come over for a look at the game that was unfolding before them, not quite believing what Pixie was managing to accomplish. Juice only got one shot, and after that, Pixie was on it and sunk her balls in just half a minute. Pixie shot her last ball in and gave a little jump of excitement.

"Yay, I win!" She squeaked and did a little victory dance, glancing up at the other Sons who were trying to process what they’d just witnessed.

Juice looked up at her from where he'd been staring at the table. "How the actual fuck did you do that?" He asked with a bewildered laugh, taking in Pixie’s mischievous little grin and the way her hazel eyes were sparkling with glee.

"We had pool tables in my clubhouse at Highton. I used to play with the other guys there since being a kid, and sometimes when Bruce travelled to meet up with other charters, I would go with and hustle them for pocket money playing pool, so I didn't get bored." Pixie revealed with a cheeky giggle.

"And you failed to mention this when we started playing?" Juice asked her, giving Pixie a playful bop to her arm, he couldn’t be mad as he was more impressed than anything else, and was enjoying himself too much.

"That wasn't in the deal." Pixie giggled, bopping him back, enjoying being able to goof off with Juice, feeling like she really needed this.

"You can't be that good, lemme try with you." Tig volunteered, finding he was really liking this playful side of Pixie’s nature and felt like he wanted to encourage more of it, seeing the young woman underneath all the barricades she’d put up to protect herself until now.

"Are you sure, big guy?" Pixie smiled, excited to play around more with the other Sons, and Tig intrigued her too. She was really happy to see he looked a hell of a lot less down and worried than he had done that morning and hoped that the problems had been sorted.

"Oh yeah, set 'em up." Tig said confidently. They reset the table and it went quiet as Tig managed to sink four balls, and then Pixie was up, and before he knew it, Pixie sunk her last ball and did another happy jump.

"Got you!" She declared, doing her excited little dance again and Tig found her adorable, and talented as she’d picked up on shots he wouldn’t have, and subsequently pulled the game heavily into her favour.

"That was beautiful." Tig beamed, watching Pixie fiddle around with her cue. "Is there anything else we shouldn't challenge you to, doll?" He teased, taking a sip of his beer and passed Pixie a couple of the balls so she could put them back in the triangle.

"I'm not gonna tell you, where's the fun in that?" Pixie quipped back, smiling as she tipped her head back to look at Tig properly, liking the relaxed smile that was on his face.

"Oh, c'mon tell us!" Tig ragged, laughing as Pixie theatrically shook her head.

"No way!" Pixie laughed. "You don't tell me your secrets." She argued light-heartedly, feeling happy that she was able to joke around, she’d really, really needed this.

"I'm an open book, baby, what do you wanna know?" Tig answered, spreading his arms wide, beer in one hand, humoured grin on his face, blue eyes shining brightly.

"Uh oh, don't open that door." Juice chuckled, getting a few laughs from the others.

Pixie stepped forward, using Tig's open stance as an opportunity for a hug, reminding herself of earlier that day when they’d bumped into each other, wrapping her arms wound Tig’s middle and feeling his strong muscles there whilst she peered up at him with a cheeky grin. "I'm not gonna tell you 'coz I know it'll irritate you. So, keep guessing, mate." She told him, causing Tig to shake his head slightly and laugh, putting his beer down and putting his arms around Pixie, feeling how she seemed to slot perfectly against him

"You're a mischievous little minx, you know that, right?" Tig teased her nose scrunching up a little as he smiled.

"Oh yeah." Pixie grinned and pulled away from Tig, suddenly feeling a little shy from the butterflies. "I think I'm gonna call it a night, I'm tired as hell." She excused, in truth, she was dog-tired and was ready to curl up in her dorm room bed and sleep.

Juice came over for a hug, wanting to encourage Pixie to feel comfortable around him and the other Sons. "Night, Pix, if you need anything, give me a call, okay?" he told her, holding Pixie against him and feeling her relax under his touch.

"Thanks, Juice, you too." Pixie hugged him tightly, feeling so relieved for the hug, Chibs saw how that seemed to help Pixie, and decided to give it a shot too.

"Night, lass, good work today." Chibs said, giving her a secure hug. Pixie briefly rested her head on his chest and Chibs could feel how tired she was, both emotionally and physically and started to feel a sense of care for her.

"Night, Chibs, look after yourself, you look tired as well." Pixie glanced up at him with a little bit of worry on her face for the Scotsman as she pulled away, almost reluctantly.

"Ach, I'll be fine, go get your rest." Chibs smiled at her, giving pixie a little pat to her back. Pixie waved to everyone else and made her exit, heading to her dorm room. Chibs spotted she was limping a little with her right leg and wondered if it was something to do with the attack. Half-Sack and Jax began a game of pool and the others began to chat about club business and Pixie, how she was settling in and what they thought about her so far. About ten minutes later, they heard footsteps moving quickly, to see Pixie now in her pyjamas, grey sweatpants, black reaper hoodie and thick white socks. She clutched a pillow and one look on her face said she wasn't happy. She marched straight up to Half-Sack, he turned to her with a smile on his face.

"He-AH!" He yelped as Pixie smacked him across the head with her pillow. He collapsed to the ground in a foetal position. "Pixie!" He squeaked, covering his head with his hands.

"Half-Sack! What did I tell you _not_ to do when you used my shower?" Pixie yelled, smacking him over the head with the pillow again.

"Leave a mess?" He whimpered, realising his mistake.

"Yeah! And I just walked in to see soil in my sink, boot prints on my tile floor and _your_ dirty laundry on _my_ bed. I did not need to know that you wore lightsabre underwear." Pixie ranted, feeling disgruntled and annoyed.

"I'm sorry!" Half-Sack yelped as she gave him hit after hit. Jax jumped in and hauled Pixie up off of him, Tig grabbed the pillow off of her for good measure. Jax was surprised at Pixie’s strength as she briefly tried to wrestle out of his hold before relaxing.

"Go fix it!" Juice yelled as Half-Sack scrambled off the floor and ran to Pixie's room.

"What did you put in your pillow?" Jax asked her, he had his arm around her waist holding her to him with his other hand around her left wrist. Jax wasn't sure that if he let go, Pixie wouldn't be down the corridor in a flash to get another hit on Half-Sack.

"Nothing!" Pixie grumbled, breathing hard, a stony expression on her face.

"She's telling the truth, nothing but pillow in here." Tig said searching the white pillow cover and watching Pixie, how frustrated she looked as well as how she was favouring her weight onto her left side, holding her right foot stiffly.

"You're telling me that kid went down with one pillow hit?" Clay laughed in disbelief. "Didn't he serve in Iraq?" He queried, looking at the other Sons who nodded.

"Yeah. How hard were you hitting him?" Jax laughed, easing his hold on Pixie when he saw she was calming down and was laughing a little too.

"I'll admit harder than I thought I would, it just irritated me that I spent the whole day cleaning, and then he goes and messes with my room. I was also using the pillow lengthwise for maximum impact as well." Pixie described so the others could understand why she’d reacted in the way she had.

"Yeah I get that, I'd be pretty pissed too." Jax agreed as Pixie tipped her head back against his chest so she could look up at him.

"You have a pillow smacking technique? How many people have you had to hit before?" Juice said looking amused, wondering if Pixie needed a distraction to help her calm fully.

"You'd be surprised, and yeah, it works so much better." Pixie smiled a little more, her playful nature coming back again.

"Really? Show me." Juice said excitedly, hyping Pixie up more to make her feel comfortable.

"I'll need someone to hit, so unless you're volunteering..." Pixie giggled, Jax caught on to what Juice was up to and decided to jump in too.

"Hit me, I'm curious." Jax grinned. "Though if I let go, you gotta promise me you're not going to go for Sack again." He warned, grip tightening around her middle for emphasis.

"I pinkie promise." Pixie grinned, she grabbed Jax's hand and wound her pinkie with his, making him chuckle.

"Tig, pillow, please?" Pixie requested once Jax released her. Tig passed it over and then crossed his arms, interested to see what trick Pixie was going to pull now.

"This I gotta see." Bobby chuckled, walking with the others to get a better view of the antics unfolding before them. Pixie took a step away from Jax and then grabbed the pillow with two hands, one on each of the smaller edge’s corners, then she pulled her arms up and back a little, so the pillow flipped up and behind her head, then she brought it down, full force, onto Jax.

"Ah, _shit_." Jax grimaced as it came down across his head, he staggered, but didn't fall.

"You good, Jax?" Pixie questioned as he stood up straighter, rubbing the side of his face where there was a slight pink mark.

"Yeah, that shit stings. But now I know how to defend myself with nothing but a pillow, so thanks for that." Jax replied playfully, showing there was no harm done.

"That's so cool!" Juice spoke eagerly. "I wanna go!" He added, getting a giggle from Pixie as she passed him the pillow.

“Who you gonna hit?" Pixie asked him, feeling happy and wanting to see the others mess around.

"Not me, I'm out." Jax said, putting his hands up. He chugged the last of his beer and headed for his dorm room, passing Half-Sack on the way back out of Pixie's room.

"Cleaned it for you, sorry Pix." He walked towards her, not noticing Juice with the pillow just behind him. Juice brought the pillow down with a 'wham' and Half-Sack flopped to the floor again. "Juice! What the hell man?" He yelled out, rolling over and seeing the culprit.

"Sorry, just really wanted to try it." Juice said cackling as he helped the prospect from the floor.

"Thanks, Half-Sack. You learnt your lesson?" Pixie jumped in, acknowledging Half-Sack had rectified his error and wanting to make sure he knew she appreciated it.

"Oh, hell yeah, I'm not gonna get on your bad side ever again." Half-Sack promised, Pixie held her pinkie out and he linked his with hers in a promise, grinning at the gesture.

"Poor bastard didn't even stand a chance." Chibs said chuckling. "We found another one of yer talents, Pixie." He told her, giving Pixie a little pat to the shoulder.

"Guess so." Pixie smiled and walked over to Half-Sack, giving him a hug. "You're forgiven mate." She reiterated so he didn’t feel so worried.

"Thanks." He hugged her back and then let her go, grateful that Pixie was being so warm with him, and he hoped they could continue their friendship.

"Now that that's sorted, I'm gonna try and get some sleep _again_ , see you tomorrow!" Pixie called, giving a theatrical wave as she took her pillow from Juice, gave him a fist bump and left.

"She's a feisty one." Tig grinned, turning to the others once disappeared into her dorm room. "I was sure she stuffed something in her pillow to make Sack go down like that." He added with a laugh.

"Hey, she hit me really hard." Half-Sack grumbled looking dejected.

"Just be glad she didn't use something other than a pillow or you'd have lost your head." Juice chuckled, nudging the prospect.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	12. Seeds Episode: Chapter 4

Pixie woke up to a damp pillow, her face wet with tears. She'd been having another flashback nightmare to the night the IRA wiped out her entire family. She could still smell the smoke and hear the screams of agony ringing in her ears. Her chest began to tighten, and her breathing became shallow. She sat up and placed her head on her knees and tried to breathe deeply as her hands shook and her brow began to sweat.

_Run! Leave me, Pixie, just go!_

_No! I won't leave you Bruce, I can get you out, I promise!_

_Pixie, I'm not getting out of here, they shot me badly. I don't have much time left in me._

_No! I'm not leaving you! You're all I have!_

_I love you, Pixie._

Pixie sobbed as the last words her dad ever said to her replayed in her mind. She'd clutched him to her as he lay dying behind a pool table that had been tipped over on its side in the chaos. She'd watched the light leave his eyes as his heart finally succumbed to the fatal gunshot. Pixie pulled the black hoodie from her body and covered her face with it to muffle her cries so the others wouldn't hear her as she lost control of the floodgates. She breathed in and caught the now familiar spicy scent mixed with the pine shampoo. That scent was the only thing that seemed to calm her down when she got like this after her nightmares. Pixie longed for her old bedroom with her My Chemical Romance posters and her faded pink bedspread. She wished for her green teddy bear that she'd had since she was a baby. She'd slept with that thing every night up until the IRA strike when she was forced to flee. Pixie had no idea if her house was even still standing, or if the IRA had torched that too. Once again, she was overcome with the furious hatred of the man that took everything from her, _Jimmy O'Phelan_.

Eventually Pixie managed to calm her thoughts and her emotions, refusing to let them bring her down. She had a new life here in Charming, and Pixie was determined to grab this opportunity by the horns. She got washed and dressed in a grey t-shirt with a skull on the front, black jeans and a green canvas belt. Then she moved back to her bed to put her prosthetic leg on for the day. She was missing her right leg from just below the knee, had done since she was fourteen, but she refused to think about the trauma now, she needed to get out and start working with the Sons, not wanting to let them down. She didn't want them to know she had a prosthetic just yet as she wanted to prove to them that she could do everything they could do, even with her leg. Once it was secure and hidden under her jeans, she walked out to the bar. Piney was the only one there, sniffing a cigar wistfully.

"Hi, Piney, you need anything?" She greeted, she hadn’t had many interactions with the retired Son, but warmed to him, he was one of the First Nine and there was just something about Piney that Pixie connected with.

"A new set of lungs, maybe?" Piney retorted, giving the younger Son a smile in greeting.

Pixie made a point of opening the fridge. "No can do, Pines, we're all out of lung, we got beer though?" She offered, looking over her shoulder with a grin.

Piney laughed and then coughed. "You're funny, kid, get me a beer before I hack up something I shouldn't." He ordered, light-heartedly, he too was starting to bond with Pixie.

Pixie passed the drink to him and started making everyone’s usual orders. "You're Opie's dad, right?" She asked after a moment, wanting to continue the conversation and get to know Piney better.

"Yeah, that shithead's all mine." Piney grunted with a shake of the head before he took another sip of his drink.

"You've got a good son, he seems sweet." Pixie put in, wondering why Piney seemed so negative about Opie, being surprised by that response.

"Sweet doesn't get you anywhere in life. He needs to get his act together." Piney retorted gruffly disapprovingly.

"I think he's trying." Pixie argued gently, not wanting to overstep but feeling like she should stick up for Opie after seeing him struggle to slot back in with the Sons and hearing about his troubles at home with his wife.

"I'll believe that when I see it." Piney growled, looking down at the bar top and trying to remember the last time he’d seen its original colour.

Pixie's brow furrowed. "I don't mean to intrude, but why are you being so hard on him when he's obviously going through such a hard time himself?" She asked, feeling her frustrations rising up.

"Because he needs to toughen up and do what's right. He's pussyfooting around re-joining the club and dealing with his debts. He had the cheek to ask _me_ for money the other day when he knows I have to put everything I can into my medical bills." Piney described, sounding like this had been building up on him and he didn’t get to talk about his troubles often.

"Are you sure he wasn't just asking you for support? He needs to know you're in his corner." Pixie retorted trying to sound calm and get a better understanding of the situation.

"He doesn't need me. He needs the club." Piney snapped abruptly, expecting Pixie to back off, she flinched but stood her ground, hazel eyes boring into his blue ones.

"Of course, he needs you, you're his dad." Pixie exclaimed passionately, surprising Piney more.

"He's a grown-ass man. He doesn't need me." Piney snarled, watching how Pixie held herself, seeing the inner strength and compassion there.

Pixie sighed and put down the cloth she was using. "Piney, I'm going to be real with you. My dad, Bruce, raised me on his own. He raised me to be his friend, rather than his daughter, because he didn't know how to be affectionate. I never once called him ‘dad’ to his face. He never told me he loved me until the day he died. He only ever hugged me when we were celebrating something, and every time I needed his support or even just a hug, he'd just tell me to toughen up and deal with it. That shit messed me up. It gets to you. It messes with your head and you feel like you're always having to prove yourself to people to even be worth their time. You can't deal with your emotions well and it eats you up even in adulthood.” Pixie described, her hazel eyes shining true as Piney listened to her, watching how she spoke. “Now I don't know you or Opie too well, but I can see you guys are both in a similar situation, so do the right thing. Hug your son, tell him you're proud and be there for him. He's _your_ responsibility. Just because he's a grown-ass man, doesn't mean he doesn't need you. He has emotions too. Guys deserve to feel like they can be vulnerable, and that they can open up and feel supported." Pixie finished, breathing hard with the passion of her words and the exposed nerves that they touched inside of her. Piney opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, his face going red then purple, unsure of what to say and how to respond. Again, he expected Pixie to run away, he was formidable when he was angry, but she only watched him from the other side of the bar with a disapproving look on her face.

"Now you calm down, Piney, you're only angry because you know I'm right. Drink your beer and take some deep breaths because I don't particularly feel like doing CPR this early in the morning." Pixie told him pushing his beer towards Piney and walking away from him to give the older man space. When Pixie got to the door before Piney could start yelling, she noticed Chibs standing in the doorway for the first time. He made a come here gesture to her and Pixie groaned, hoping she wasn't in too much trouble. Chibs didn't speak until they got outside to the empty lot and he sat down on the wooden bench, patting the spot next to him.

"I think ye and I need ta have a little talk, eh?" Chibs told her as Pixie hovered in front of him for a moment. Chibs could see how much her words had affected her, and he felt sorry that Pixie had had to experience the things she’d just revealed to Piney and to him by accident.

"Am I in trouble?" Pixie quizzed, sitting next to Chibs. She drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs defensively, Chibs guessed the position was to self-soothe too, a sign of a child who’d had to grow up too fast.

"No, I agree with what ye said. Opie's going through shit an’ he needs all tha support he can get. But tha’ wasn't why I wanted ta talk ta ye." He told her, watching Pixie’s face as she looked out across the lot to the motorcycles.

"What's on your mind then?" Pixie asked, turning her attention back to Chibs as he leant back against the bench, stretching his legs out and crossing them at the ankles, worn brown boots resting on their heels. He was wearing dark blue jeans, a black short-sleeved t-shirt, his kutte and a set of dark wooden beads around his neck.

"Is what ye said abou’ Bruce true? I don't mean ta pry, it's just it's tha first time ye've talked abou’ him properly before." Chibs described, voice soft and quiet to ease Pixie’s nerves and show she wasn’t being interrogated, Chibs just wanted to help and get to know her.

"Yeah. It's true." Pixie took a calming breath and stared out at the bikes again. "I was the product of a one-night stand with some woman, I don't even know her name. Bruce wouldn't tell me. She turned up on his doorstep a year after their rendezvous saying she couldn't handle me. She told Bruce to look after me, or give me up for adoption, she didn't care which, just wanted me out of her hair." Pixie revealed, swallowing hard and hugging her knees tighter, Chibs noted how she fiddled with her bootlaces, never quite managing to be still. Her words hurt Chibs’ soul, he was a caretaker at heart, and hearing how Pixie had been a baby that even her own mother didn’t want, made him feel for Pixie.

"That's harsh, lass. Sounds like ye were better off without her." He responded, turning his head to look at the side of Pixie’s face, seeing the emotions going on in her eyes but kept her face composed.

"I think she was just too young to be a mum, that's why she didn't want me. I was a preemie baby, and from what I was able to piece together, she never visited me until she had to take me home. Bruce didn't know how to be a father either, so he had babysitters and family friends stay with me whilst he was out at the club until I was old enough to not need constant attention. Eventually he did bond with me, but like I said to Piney, we were never father and daughter, it was always Bruce and Meggie. I didn't get the nickname 'Pixie' until I joined the club as a prospect. The other guys at the club kinda helped in raising me, seeing as I was always up there with Bruce from the age of about four, whenever I wasn't at school or anything. A few of them actually did the school run with me a couple of times." Pixie reminisced, she’d never thought about her childhood as being different to the norm until she had to tell someone about it and then she saw it from an outsider’s perspective.

"Really?" Chibs chuckled, thinking about a burly Son turning up to a primary school to drop Pixie off and being amused by that image.

"Yeah." Pixie said with a giggle, understanding what Chibs was smiling at. "The teachers just thought I had a lot of uncles, and we never corrected them. I grew up playing pool, darts, learning the club rules and some of them helping me with my homework and taking me to my clubs. I was basically trained to be a Son and to fit in in this world from a very young age." Pixie elaborated with a fond tone to her voice, thinking of all the fun things she’d done with the Highton Sons as a small child and how she’d felt so loved and taken care of at the clubhouse, even if it wasn’t expressed verbally.

"Sounds like a happy childhood, what clubs did ye do?" Chibs queried, trying to get a better feel for Pixie’s character and where her strengths lay.

"Boxing, BMX riding, and gymnastics. I can still do back-flips and other things, though it's been years since I actually competed. As soon as I was old enough to ride, the club became my only priority, that and keeping Bruce safe." Pixie informed him, still looking out onto the lot, feeling like it was easier to open up that way, and it felt like such a relief to talk about it, especially to someone like Chibs who Pixie just felt connected to. She couldn’t explain it, it just felt like she knew him already.

"Didn't one of tha’ Sons teach ye how ta box?" Chibs asked, this time getting Pixie to look at him.

"Viktor Romanchek, yeah, he was a mechanic and taught boxing to the kids on Saturday afternoon. He was the only one that actually taught me some meaningful discipline." Pixie explained, feeling the pain of how much she missed him.

"Did yer da never do that?" Chibs asked, eyebrows raised, Pixie’s boldness that he’d seen starting to make a little more sense.

"No, if I ever got in trouble with Bruce around, he'd just slap me upside the head and call me a 'little shit'. That's why I have an issue with authority figures." Pixie thought back on it. “If I don’t trust a person and they demand respect from me without it being earnt, I can’t help but snap back, because I guess I was never taught any different.”

"Ah, I noticed that, when ye first arrived I was shocked that ye fired back at Clay without hesitation. Some of tha guys wouldn't even dream of doing that. You've got serious balls, lass." Chibs commented with a smile, thinking of how fearless Pixie had been in that moment.

Pixie snorted. "Thanks. Sometimes I wish Bruce had tried to raise me differently. I don't resent it, but I just feel like I missed out on a lot. I get myself into serious trouble sometimes because I never know when to back down from a fight. I never felt like he was in my corner when I was having trouble with something. He would always just tell me, 'toughen up, kid, you can do better' and leave me to deal with it. It was his tough love approach, he wanted me to learn how to be self-sufficient and self-reliant, and whilst that did help, I felt alone often and never got to feel like I could open up to him or be comforted by him. We never watched films and cuddled on the sofa together. He never gave me hugs when I cried, or even just in passing." Pixie took a breath, she'd been holding this in for so long, it felt nice to talk about it, especially to Chibs who seemed genuinely concerned.

Pixie’s words sunk in and Chibs felt his heart become heavy when he saw how much pain was inside of Pixie, never feeling fully accepted by Bruce and never having those bonding moments that he would have given anything for to have with Kerrianne. "He never hugged ye?" Chibs asked quietly, voice sounding so moved.

"He would only ever give hugs if we were celebrating a tournament win from boxing, gymnastics or BMX riding, and even then it was a quick squeeze of the back of my neck and then he was off, it was a hug to him but not to me, but it was better than nothing. It made me fiercely competitive because all I could think about was beating all the other kids so I would have that second of affection from Bruce. So, in a way, I guess his methods helped me to be the best I could be, but at the cost of me feeling like I never had a parent to turn to. Don't get me wrong, he was an amazing guy and I love him to death, we used to have so much fun together at the clubhouse, but it was like hanging out with one of the other guys, except I went home with him at the end of the evening." Pixie chuckled at the memories and wiped a sad tear from her eye, not realising she had been crying whilst explaining this last part to Chibs until she felt a droplet on her left knee. Those neck-squeezes meant everything to Pixie since that was the only real affection she’d gotten from Bruce and she knew she’d never have them again, that Bruce was gone for good.

"I understand, lass. Bruce sounds like he was a really good man. I agree with what ye said though, every kid needs a parent in their life ta take care of them." Chibs responded compassionately. He stared down at Pixie, sat next to him and just took in her form. She still had her legs pulled up to her chest and all he could think about was how small and lost she looked. Like a little puppy trying to make it with the big dogs. His heart went out to her, and his mind drifted to his own daughter back in Ireland, she was lucky she had Fiona with her to keep her on the right path. Pixie didn't have anyone, and that put a pain in Chib's heart as he watched her try to contain her emotions, her eyes brimming with tears she was too stubborn to release as she tried to stop herself from crying and was rubbing her left forearm in an effort to calm herself. He'd only known her for almost a week, but her presence around the clubhouse made it seem like she'd always been there, that they'd always known each other. Chibs put his arm around Pixie and pulled her to his chest in a tight embrace.

"Listen, lassie, I know I'm not Bruce. An’ I know I never will be, but if you need a da' in your life, ye got one. If ye need advice, hugs or just someone ta keep tha monsters at bay, I'll always be here for ye ta come ta. I'll even call ye a 'wee shite' if that's what it takes to keep ye safe." Chibs vowed with a small chuckle, resting his chin on the top of Pixie’s head. "So, don't ye worry, lass, I'm here now." Chibs promised, kissing the top of her head in a comforting gesture without even thinking about it. Holding Pixie like this felt so natural to him, and it startled Chibs just how normal it felt, like he was supposed to be this close to Pixie. Pixie froze in his arms, and Chibs worried for a second that he'd overstepped his boundaries, until Pixie let go of her legs and wrapped her arms around him tightly, shoulders shaking in silent sobs that broke Chibs’ heart and he tried not to cry himself as held her securely and just let her take comfort in him. Chibs held her for a moment whilst Pixie composed herself and then she pulled away, quickly wiping the tears off of her face, and his kutte with her hands. Feeling self-conscious that she’d just let down all her walls, but the endearing look Chibs gave her settled that issue and made Pixie feel safer.

"You have no idea what that means to me, Chibs, I've been scared for so long." Pixie relented, her voice hoarse as battled with herself internally, wanting to open up but also to compose herself and close the barricades before she drove Chibs away.

"Well, ye don't have ta worry now, lass.” Chibs replied, getting a tissue from his pocket and passing it to Pixie. There was no judgement on his face, just compassion, and for that, Pixie was grateful. “Now let's get that smile of yers back on yer face before tha others catch on. I know ye're trying ta be tough for them." Chibs told Pixie comfortingly, giving her a warm smile that helped to ease her mind more.

Pixie nodded. "Yeah, I don't usually cry in front of people, but you worked your way through my armour." She admitted with a little awkward laugh as she finished wiping her face and getting her emotions back under control, but there was still a vulnerable look to her face.

"Looks like ye needed it, though.” Chibs reasoned, patting Pixie’s knee as she drew it back up against her chest. “Gemma's havin’ a family dinner tonight, why don't ye come with me, it'll be a chance for ye to get out fer a while? Have some down time." Chibs offered, watching as a flash of recognition went across Pixie’s face.

"Gemma? Thanks, but I'll pass. I don't feel up to dealing with her today." Pixie hunched her shoulders and looked down at her purple boot, going back to playing with the black laces.

Chibs raised an eyebrow, surprised by this response. "Ye've met her?" He asked, wishing he could ease Pixie’s anxieties.

"If by met, you mean she called me a 'glorified crow-eater' and insinuated that the Highton charter only kept me around because 'I was their favourite thing to tap', then yeah, I've met the witch." Pixie elaborated bluntly, her tone clearly showing her disdain for Gemma as well as the scowl on Pixie’s face.

Chibs sucked a breath in through his teeth and rubbed the back of his neck. He was surprised Gemma had come at Pixie so strongly, but on the other hand, this was Gemma Teller-Morrow and she did things how she wanted. "Ouch, wha’ did ye do in response?" Chibs asked, hoping it hadn’t turned physical.

"I restrained myself from gutting her there and then, instead I told her exactly what I thought of her. She didn't like that and slapped me, but I didn't reciprocate as I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of seeing Clay kicking me out." Pixie told him darkly, staring down at the cement below them.

"Wow, I'm impressed, Pixie. I don't think I would’ve managed ta keep a cool head if she did tha’ to me. Do ye have any idea why she did those things ta ye?" Chibs acknowledged, giving Pixie’s shoulder a pat.

"My best guess is that she's threatened by the fact that I'm another woman that could potentially rival her position in the club, so she's trying to assert her dominance before I try anything." Pixie replied, showing she’d given this interaction a lot of thought, and that it was weighing on her.

"That does sound like Gemma. I could talk ta her a bit. See if I can get her ta cut ye some slack?" Chibs offered, wanting to help Pixie in any way he could, she deserved to feel safe after everything she’d been through to get to this point.

"Nah, I don't want any special treatment, but if she comes at me again then I make no promises about holding back." Pixie assured him, her strength coming back into play and Chibs didn’t doubt for a second Pixie would easily be able to take Gemma on should things get worse.

"Noted. So, what will ye do tonight then?" Chibs asked, switching the subject to help settle Pixie down, he put his arm behind her so Pixie had a physical representation that she wasn’t alone anymore.

"I'll just do some extra jobs around the clubhouse or the garage until I get tired. I thought about going for a ride, but I don't fancy getting lost. It took me ages to even find Charming in the first place." Pixie mused, looking up at Chibs again and giving him a smile, grateful to be able to talk to him like this.

Chibs nodded. "Okay, how about as soon as I'm done sorting out tha shite with tha warehouse, I'll show ye my favourite route and we'll go on a ride together." Chibs offered, watching Pixie’s eyes light up at the prospect.

Pixie smiled. "Yes please, I'd love that." She enthused, and Chibs had to grin at how polite Pixie was at times. He patted her back and straightened himself up, glad he was able to make Pixie feel better and had a plan to continue that progress.

"It's settled then. Now I got places ta be, so are ye okay if I head off?" Chibs asked, sounding a little unwilling to leave Pixie behind.

Pixie nodded and gave Chibs’ hand a squeeze. "Yeah, go do your thing. I need to start my shift at the garage anyway.” She excused, not wanting to make Chibs feel like he was obligated to stay. “Be safe, yeah?" She tacked on the end, wanting to make Chibs feel like she appreciated him.

"Always." Chibs stood up, patted her on the shoulder and headed off to his bike. Pixie smiled to herself as she watched him go, feeling some of the weight on her shoulders easing a little. The hug from Chibs and everything he said to her put Pixie's mind at rest and for the first time in weeks she was able to think straight. She got up from the bench, stretched, and then made her way over to the garage where she found Juice's legs sticking out from under a white Chevy SUV.

"Hey Juice, you look like the Wicked Witch of the East." Pixie greeted, kicking one of Juice's boots playfully.

There was a chuckle from under the car. "Just don't steal my boots, I need 'em. Pass me the wrench would ya?" Juice asked, his arm appearing out from under the edge. Pixie gave him what he needed and squatted down. "Thanks, I'm almost done with this car, it's taken me all morning to work out what the issue was." He described, glad to have someone to talk to.

"Sounds nasty. Anything need doing?" Pixie offered, wanting to help where she could.

"There's a car with a flat tyre on the lot you could do? I'll come check on you after this" Juice instructed in between the sound of metal scraping.

"On it, boss." Pixie stood up and soon found the tools and the car and got to work. Pixie had changed so many flats that she just fell into an easy rhythm and by the time Juice made his way out, she was tightening the nuts to secure the new tyre into place.

"Nice work, Pix, I'm impressed." He grinned, giving Pixie a high-five to encourage her.

"Yay, flats are no biggie." Pixie beamed at the compliant and straightened up from where she’d been kneeling on the floor.

"It's a pretty slow day at the shop, so there isn't much else to do." Juice told her when Pixie looked around the workshop and saw everything else was being attended to.

A fun idea struck Pixie and she turned to Juice, grinning. Juice raised an eyebrow as Pixie grabbed his hand. "You know what we could do?" Pixie asked him excitedly.

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	13. Seeds Episode: Chapter 5

_When we take action to avenge the ones we love, personal justice collides with social and divine justice. We become judge, jury, and God. With that choice comes daunting responsibility. Some men cave under that weight. Others abuse the momentum. The true outlaw finds the balance between the passion in his heart and the reason in his mind. His solution is always an equal mix of might and right._

Jax sat on the roof of the clubhouse and contemplated his biological dad's words as he read through JT’s manuscript Jax had found in the storage unit whilst he’d been looking for toys for Abel. The manuscript appeared to detail what John Teller had written and what he wished for the club, which was a stark contrast to what the club had come to under Clay's leadership. Jax was beginning to question whether it was heading in a direction that would spell the end for the charter.

He took a deep drag of his cigarette and looked down across the lot and chuckled to himself as he spotted Pixie and Juice with one of the mechanic stretchers for working under cars at the top end of the lot. They seemed to be in an animated conversation with Juice then sitting down on the stretcher and holding onto the edge. Pixie bent down and grabbed the back edge and then started running, pushing the stretcher along the lot a little way to pick up speed before giving it a final push. Jax could hear their laughs from below as the small wheels tried to cope with going at such a speed which resulted in the stretcher spinning around a couple of times before coming to a jerky stop. Juice threw his arms up into the air and shouted out a "WOO!". He then got up, as Pixie jogged over to him and he sent her going the other way up the lot on the stretcher. Jax couldn't help but laugh at their playful antics. The Sons needed more of this in their life, everything was so serious at the moment, it drew the focus away from what the Sons were intended to be in the first place, a family. He watched as Pixie and Juice pushed each other up and down, laughing their heads off the whole time, Jax knew he probably should call for them to knock it off before they went hurtling off into a customer's car or before Clay caught them, but they just seemed so happy, and Jax just didn’t have the heart to ruin their fun, so he left them be for the time being, glad for the light-hearted distraction from his turbulent thoughts as he watched them from his vantage point.

After a while, he came down from the clubhouse roof when he caught sight of Gemma pulling into the lot. He walked over to meet her and watched as Pixie zoomed up the lot, giggling all the way as Juice jogged after her. Jax put out his foot and stopped the stretcher from knocking into him as he crossed into its path.

"What are you two grunts up to?" Jax asked as Pixie grinned up at him from where she was sitting cross legged on the stretcher.

"Having fun, you should try it sometime." Pixie quipped back grinning up at him. Juice made an ‘oooh!’ sound behind her, hearing what she said. Pixie’s mischievous face and words made Jax laugh as he shook his head at her.

" _Ha, ha_.” He said sarcastically. “Go cause trouble somewhere else, squirt." Jax grinned. He put his foot on the stretcher and pushed it back towards Juice who grabbed a piece of rope one of them had tied to the handle, turned and ran it back up the lot away from Gemma's car. Jax laughed again, watching them go with Pixie calling out to Juice excitedly. Jax thought it was nice to see Juice so chilled out and having fun, the guy was usually so nervous and flighty but right now, he seemed to be in his element with Pixie at his side.

"Hey, baby. You doing okay?" Gemma greeted her son, getting out of the car and kissing his cheek, breaking Jax out of his thoughts again.

"Yeah, ma. How was your day?" Jax questioned her, holding the file with his dad's book close to him. Something told him that if Gemma found out what he was reading, she’d fly off the handle and Jax wanted to get to the bottom of what John Teller had to say before that happened.

"It's okay, ran into Donna at the grocery store. She could barely afford kitchen towels. Tried helping her but she's determined to keep away from the club." Gemma responded, giving Jax a knowing look.

"Jesus. Their money situation that bad? I'll try speaking to Ope again.” Jax grunted, worrying for his best friend and his wife, both of whom felt like a brother and sister to Jax and he just wanted to help them out. Jax looked up the lot again to see Pixie was now pulling Juice along on the stretcher with the rope, the pair of them seemed to be laughing and bickering over something. “Have you met Pixie by the way? She's up there goofing off with Juice." Jax pointed at Pixie, glancing over at Gemma and seeing the sour look on his mother’s face. Jax dropped his arm, brows furrowed as he took in the death-glare Gemma was shooting Pixie’s way.

"Oh yeah, I met her. Little bitch needs to learn some manners." Gemma snapped, hiking her handbag up out her shoulder agitatedly as she watched Pixie, who was thankfully oblivious to what was being said further down the lot.

Jax raised his eyebrows, startled by this response. "What happened?" He questioned Gemma, feeling confused.

"We just had a little talk, don't worry, it's all under control, baby." Gemma assured him, smoothing Jax’s goatee down a little and rubbing her thumb along his cheek.

"Okay, but please be a little nicer to her, she's dealing with a lot at the minute, Clay tell you?" Jax stood his ground, feeling a little protective over Pixie who seemed sweet to him.

"Yeah, he told me, sounds like she's just a crow-eater with a special title, but who am I to judge?” Gemma smiled wickedly at Jax and he growled and looked away from her.

He rolled his eyes. "Mom, don't even go there. She's one of us. She earned her place and she can fight just as good as any other guy. Pixie's a trailblazer." Jax insisted on sticking up for Pixie, he had a good feeling about her.

"And are you sure that's a good thing? Some things should never change." Gemma warned, concerned that Jax had been swayed by Pixie already.

"Yeah, I _know_ it's a good thing. This club needs new life breathed into it." Jax continued to stand his ground, refusing to be brought over to Gemma’s side on this topic, especially after what he’d read.

Gemma looked at him with a calculating gaze. "Let’s go inside, baby. I want to see what John left behind." She decided, liking her arm with Jax’s and tugging him towards the clubhouse.

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Juice and Pixie were still playing around with the stretcher when Clay, Bobby, Tig, Half-Sack and Chibs rolled into the lot. They pulled into the parking bays and watched as Juice shot past them spinning around on the stretcher.

"What in hell's bells is going on here?" Clay asked in disbelief as Pixie waved to them catching up to Juice who came to a stop further down from the group. They swapped places and Juice sent Pixie cruising up the other way, spinning as she went.

"Hi boys!" She called to them. Tig broke out laughing, causing the others to lose it, and jogged over to where Pixie came to a stop, happy to see Pixie’s playful nature was back and he just felt drawn to it.

"You having fun there, doll?" He asked her as Pixie beamed up at him, looking relaxed and happy.

"Hell yeah! Juice and I are trying to see how far we can shoot the other one. So far, he's managed to get me almost to the gate." Pixie informed Tig excitedly as Tig spotted the tow rope and grabbed it, pulling Pixie back towards the others causing Pixie to grin excitedly.

"What's your record?" Tig asked her, walking backwards so he could watch Pixie as she wriggled a little, giving him a goofy grin.

"Half-way past the clubhouse, I'm not as strong as Juice, and also he's heavier than me." Pixie replied with a giggle, watching Tig tow her effortlessly.

"You callin' me fat?" Juice joked as they got closer and he heard what Pixie had remarked.

"Nah, you're just dense." Pixie grinned at him cheekily.

Chibs chuckled. "I think she's onta somethin’." He bantered, giving Pixie an encouraging smile and feeling grateful that Juice had been able to cheer her up after that morning.

"Hey, c'mere you little shit!" Juice announced playfully, he made a grab for Pixie and she scrambled from the stretched and behind Bobby, ducking for cover with a laugh.

"Hey, I'm not a shield." Bobby chuckled swatting at Pixie who ducked away from him, weaved around Juice and scooted behind Tig.

"You're kinda shaped like one." Tig laughed as Pixie peeped around his arm to check where Juice was and squeaked when Juice came at her again, zipping away from him, weaving easily and behind Chibs. Although Pixie seemed to be slower than Juice in terms of speed, she was very nimble which made her hard to catch.

"Oh, fuck you." Bobby grumbled, watching the younger Sons race around laughing and being reminded of when he was a young adult and the fun he’d had back then. Tig gave Bobby the middle finger salute in response.

"Alright, Alright. That's enough. Prospect return the stretcher, or you'll be paying for new wheels for it. Juice, stop acting like a dumbass and go get the beers." Clay grumbled, feeling like he was way too old for this shit.

"I'll get you later." Juice grinned at Pixie, giving her the ‘I’m watching you’ signal as he walked off to the clubhouse. Pixie gave him a cheeky wave in reply

Pixie noticed Half-Sack who'd been watching the silliness with a wistful look on his face. "Hey buddy, want me to tow you to the garage?" Pixie offered, nudging Half-Sack’s arm.

"Yeah!" Half-Sacks face lit up and he hopped on, Pixie grabbed the rope quickly and shot past Clay before he could grab either one of them.

"Hey! I told you to knock it off!" Clay roared after them, shaking a fist in their direction.

"I'm taking it to the garage like you asked! You never said how!" Pixie called back with a laugh.

Chibs chuckled. "Lass’ right, ye never specified how ta get it ta tha garage." He told Clay with a smirk.

"Smartass." Clay grunted, lighting a cigar. Chibs noticed that Clay's mouth was turned up at the edges in a shadow of a smile as they walked over to the clubhouse just as Jax wandered over.

"Hey, everything go okay?" Jax asked Clay, giving him a head nod in greeting.

"Got things smoothed out with Unser. Bobby and Tig got the bodies over Skeeter, we're burning them tonight." Clay listed, taking a puff of his cigar.

"We should all go down there." Tig put in as they neared the clubhouse. "They don't have any family and they were under our employment when they got toasted." He persuaded, feeling responsible.

"Yeah, let's do it and then we'll head over to Gemma's dinner after." Clay agreed, knowing Tig well and seeing how this had affected him.

"Gemma's inside if you wanna tell her. I gotta sort some things." Jax told the men before he walked off, wandering out to the garage. He found Pixie and Half-Sack messing around in the garage bays as he went to hide the file in plain sight, pushing it into an overcrowded shelf of manuals.

"You still playing around with that thing?" He asked Pixie as she pushed Half-Sack on the stretcher around the workbenches, out of sight from Clay.

"He has a name, Jax, it's Half-Sack." Pixie giggled as she passed him.

Jax smirked and shook his head. "You coming to the dinner tonight? I could ask Gemma for you?"

"No, thanks, I don't feel like getting slapped again." Pixie said as Half-Sack got off and put the stretcher back. She straightened up so she could look at Jax properly.

Jax raised his eyebrows in concern. "She hit you?" He asked in dismay.

"Yeah, don't worry, I didn't do nothing back. I was close though, so I think we need some distance." Pixie reassured him, thinking his worried glance had been about Gemma, not her.

"What did she say to you?" Jax asked, raking a hand through his blonde hair.

"Called me a 'glorified crow-eater' and some other stuff to do with my family." Pixie sighed, feeling frustrated about the encounter again.

"Sheesh. I'm sorry, kid." Jax sympathised, squeezing Pixie’s shoulder.

"It's fine. She's just insecure. But I can't promise to keep my cool the next time she corners me. That stuff really got to my head, and I was afraid I'd really hurt her." Pixie warned darkly, showing how close she’d been to snapping.

"Okay, well thanks for not retaliating, I'll try and win her over." Jax assured Pixie, feeling disappointed in his own mother.

Pixie snorted. "Gemma doesn't seem like she's easily swayed, so good luck with that, mate." Pixie told him in a disbelieving tone.

Jax chuckled. "Yeah, you guys better head to the clubhouse before Clay gets suspicious that you're having too much fun."

Half-Sack grinned. "Race you!" He jogged out of the bay, turning to see if Pixie was going to follow.

"No fair! My legs are way shorter than yours!" Pixie grumbled playfully, but she still went after him. Jax noticed she was favouring her left side more when she ran and he wondered whether she was still sore from the fight, or whether she was hurt still from escaping the Highton massacre.

Half-Sack won the race and the pair came in chuckling together, passing Gemma on the way out. "I beat you by like a minute, I probably could have lapped you and still won." Half-Sack boasted jovially. Pixie play-punched his arm.

"I wasn't that slow, you prat!" She argued back, play-fighting with him.

"Yeah you were." Half-Sack teased back, giving her a returning play-punch to her arm and the two started scuffling until there was a low whistle from Bobby, getting their attention.

"What are you bickering about now?" Bobby looked up from his beer, watching as the prospects separated themselves from each other’s grip.

"Pixie can't run fast." Half-Sack explained, laughing as Pixie rolled her eyes and elbowed him.

"I go fast for someone of my stature, it doesn't help that he's got freaking giraffe legs." Pixie pointed to Half-Sack’s long legs.

"Maybe you ought to race Juice, put your theory to the test. He's closer to your height." Half-Sack grinned.

"I'm barely shorter than you, asshole." Juice grumbled from the sofa, looking over his laptop screen. "Maybe you should race Bobby, he's the shortest Son." He suggested, earning a scowl from Bobby.

Clay laughed. "A run like that would probably spell the end for Bobby." He joked as Bobby shook his head and took a drink of his beer.

"Hey, I can run, I just need a little incentive." He replied indignantly.

"What? Like a buffet?" Tig chuckled from where he was sitting at the bar.

"Leave my chub alone. It's my money-maker. People love seeing Fat Elvis." Bobby grumbled, patting his stomach.

"Is that what you do? Half-Sack said something about you doing an Elvis gig when I first got here." Pixie asked, passing him another beer and giving his hand a squeeze to show she was on his side.

"Yeah, that's right. I travel playing at bars, parties and bar mitzvahs.” Bobby elaborated, feeling heart-warmed that Pixie was showing him her support.

"That's so cool! Is Elvis really big over here?" Pixie asked, encouraging Bobby further.

"Duh, he's the king of rock and roll." Bobby joked as Pixie handed more drinks around.

"The Beatles would beg to differ, but if that's what you believe then I'll support that. I kinda wanna go to one of your gigs, just to see what it's like, I bet you're awesome." Pixie responded enthusiastically.

"He is pretty good. We could be roadie buddies." Half-Sack smiled, sensing what Pixie was trying to do and joined in.

Pixie giggled. "Sure, Half-Sack. I’d like that.” She agreed as they began gathering empty glasses and bottles.

"Where did Jax get to? Anyone seen him?" Clay asked as he drained his beer and passed it to Pixie.

"He's in the garage still. Want me to get him?" Pixie volunteered helpfully.

"Nah, I'll go see him. Get this place cleaned up." Clay ordered, getting to his feet.

"Aye aye, captain." Pixie said, making Chibs chuckle. She continued to gather up the empty bottles with Half-Sacks help and wipe down the bar. A couple minutes later they heard a vehicle arrive in the lot, Pixie went over to the window, curious to see who it was. "Hey, there's a policeman out here. Green jeep, surly looking guy with a buzz. He a friendly?" Pixie asked, looking to the older Sons for clarification.

Chibs and Tig got up to have a look, coming to Pixie’s side. "Nope, that's Hale. Looks like Jax and Clay're sorting him out." Tig watched as the three men outside had a standoff.

"Least I know what he looks like now. Last thing I wanna do is run into him by accident, especially with my bogus ID." Pixie acknowledged, thinking of the dodgy paperwork she’d been given.

"How bad are they?" Chibs asked, seeing Pixie look a little nervous and step away from the window a little more.

"They were enough to satisfy the Manchester Charter's private pilot that he wasn't harbouring a fugitive, but one look at them from someone like that guy and it's endgame for me." Pixie said darkly, putting a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of Hale.

"I can sort the new ID." Juice said getting up, wanting to help Pixie if he could. "Is there any reason why we can't use your real ID?" He questioned, going into tech mode.

"Manchester charter thought it was best to avoid using them to protect me from the IRA, just in case they were monitoring my movements. We don't know how badly they want me dead, but considering the fact that I know a lot of inside information from all the deals Bruce did with them, I'd harbour a guess at them wanting me very, very dead." Pixie explained with a panicked tone to her voice before she calmed herself. Chibs swallowed hard thinking about how much danger Pixie was in.

"I could speak with my city hall snitch, see if I can get them to sort papers out for you. If we ditch your last name, we could easily pass you off as a relative of one of us. I mean they're not exactly going to bat an eye at an unannounced kid of one of the sons suddenly turning up in Charming. I mean most of you guys have like two ex-wives each?" Juice reasoned, making a lot of sense to the others.

"That’s very true." Tig nodded, thinking hard.

"Put tha lass down as a kid of mine. We both have accents from the UK, and tha cops ain't gonna know tha difference in dialects." Chibs suggested. He patted Pixie's back. "That is if you'll have me, lass?" He added, slightly hopeful.

"Yeah, of course, Chibbie, thank you. Though that does mean if I get into trouble, you're gonna have to be the one to get me out." Pixie replied gratefully, with a cheeky smile.

"That's true, you'll be her next of kin." Juice nodded, making a note of what he needed to do now.

"That's alright with me, I needed a little more mayhem in ma life anyway." Chibs grinned, putting an arm around Pixie as she smiled up at him.

"So, it's settled then. Meggie Telford, welcome to the family." Juice grinned. “I'll see what strings I can pull and get this moving ASAP."

"Thanks, Juice." Pixie gave him a quick hug, showing her appreciation for him and Chibs having her back.

Clay and Jax walked into the clubhouse and saw the little huddle by the window. "What's this mother's meeting about?" Clay asked, looking at the foursome.

"I think Chibs just adopted Pixie." Tig smirked. Clay opened his mouth to ask, then closed it.

"I don't even want to know.” Clay waved a dismissive hand with slight amusement. “Get you gear, we need to head to the crematorium. Pixie, close up for the night, we're gonna be out late." He instructed the group.

"Sure, have you got a key, Jax?" Pixie asked, turning to Jax, working out what the best thing to do was.

"Yeah, lock the front, just don't deadbolt it." Jax informed her.

"Rodger. See you guys tomorrow then?" Pixie said. A part of her felt a little left out, but she knew it would take some time before she could be fully involved in the club's business.

"Ye gonna be alright here?" Chibs asked Pixie, sensing how she was feeling.

"Yeah, go, I've got things to do." Pixie grinned up at the Scotsman, hiding her disappointment and the feeling of isolation creeping up on her.

The others said their goodbyes and left Pixie to her own devices. She cleared up the clubhouse and got it tidy again. Then decided to give her bike a check-up. It had been a good couple of weeks since she'd been able to give it the TLC it deserves. She pushed it to the empty garage bay and got to work cleaning it up and checking the tyres. 

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed writing the playful scenes with the guys, so I hoped you liked them too! -Lulu ♥♥♥


	14. Seeds Episode: Chapter 6

After seeing all the guys leave, Pixie felt intensely alone again and tried to distract herself by working on her bike, quickly becoming deeply focused on it. About an hour or two in, she'd cleaned all the grime from it, checked the tyres, polished the chrome details, and was now using a spanner to tighten some of the nuts that had come loose.

"Hey Pi-" A voice came from behind her. Pixie jumped at the unexpected intruder, her heart beating wildly as adrenaline coursed through her veins. She swung around and launched the spanner at the person, not realising until the spanner was hurtling towards his head, that it was in fact, _Juice_. Juice's eyes went wide, and he managed to duck in time as the spanner flew past him, glanced from the metal shutter with a _‘clang’_ and went clattering across the lot a little way.

"What the hell, Pixie?!" Juice yelped as he straightened up from his frantic ducking position and looked at how Pixie was standing opposite him, wide-eyed and pale.

Pixie gasped as she realised, she'd almost hit her friend. "Oh my gosh! Juice! Are you okay? You scared me half to death!" She reached for him, trying to check he was alright and began fussing over him, frantically trying to make sure she hadn’t harmed her new friend.

"Yeah, you didn't get me.” Juice assured Pixie, putting his hands on her shoulders. “I'm sorry I spooked you, are you okay? Tig said something about you being jumpy, but damn." He asked, concerned, seeing how frazzled Pixie was over being surprised like that.

"Yeah, I think you just jump started my heart. My edginess is the result of being a Son I guess." Pixie reasoned rubbing over her heard as it hammered away against her ribcage.

"Constantly on your toes?" Juice asked with a knowing look, he had to admit, when things got tough, he was flighty too.

"Yeah." Pixie agreed, nodding her head and looking down at the garage bay floor.

"I know the feeling. I just came to check on you, I did a fly past and saw the lights on in the garage and wanted to make sure you were safe." Juice explained, watching Pixie try and pull herself together.

She smiled. "You didn't have to do that, Juice, thank you. Aren't you supposed to be on your way to dinner?" Pixie asked him, looking concerned that he could be running late.

"Yeah, but I just had a feeling. Call me a worrier, but it's been a while since we checked in with each other." Juice elaborated, wanting to make sure Pixie knew he cared about her feelings and was anxious about her wellbeing.

"I'll be okay Juice, I'm just working on my bike, then I'll lock up and go to bed." Pixie smiled at him, trying to ease his anxieties and brush it off before she got too deep. Juice picked up the spanner she threw and passed it to her. Pixie reached for it and Juice's eyebrows knitted together in concern as he realised Pixie's hands were shaking badly.

He gently took her wrist. "Hey what's this? You sure you're okay?" Juice asked softly, brown eyes softening as he watched the uncontrollable shakes and saw how Pixie’s caramel skin was paling.

Pixie looked down at her hands and realised what was happening. Her chest tightened and she felt the familiar feeling of a panic attack rising. "Uh oh." Pixie murmured, she abruptly felt lightheaded and her legs buckled underneath her as she collapsed to the floor, gasping as the tears began to flow.

"Pixie!" Juice dropped down beside her, realising what was happening too. He panic attacks as well, usually in the middle of the night after a nightmare. "Pixie, I got you, it's gonna be alright." He soothed, he pulled her shaking torso to him, so her back was to his front and wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug. "Pixie, take deep breaths like me, okay? Do you know what triggered it?" He questioned working out what the cause was so he could alleviate it.

"I miss Bruce and my home. I want to go back but I can’t, and I'm scared of the IRA and I don't even know where Bruce is or where he'll be buried, and I can't even say goodbye." Pixie gasped out in between sobs. Her words were muddling together, and it took Juice a second to untangle the stream of consciousness. It was obvious that she'd been holding it all in and trying to stay strong for way too long. Juice was just glad that she was finally letting it all out, this kind of stuff was toxic to keep inside for too long.

"Hey, hey, hey. Listen to me, okay? You're safe here. They aren't going to find out you made it all the way up here and if they do, we have your back and we'll keep you safe. You're family now, Pixie, we've got you, I've got you, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you." Juice said, hugging her tightly to him. There was just something about Pixie that he just automatically connected with. It felt like they had known each other for so long already, and he felt fiercely protective of her, like she was his little sister, his to keep safe, goof off with and to support. "As for Bruce, remember, you've got his memory and his blood. He's with you, always. I bet he's watching over you and I bet he's proud of how brave you are. I know what it's like to miss home, I grew up in Queens and had to leave it all behind. It's a heartache that isn't easily fixed, but we can try and make this place your home now too. Maybe get you some things to decorate your room?" Juice was talking freely, saying the first thing that came to his mind in an effort to distract Pixie and it was working, he could feel her breathing become more even and her back has become less tense against him, she put her head back on his shoulder and he used his sleeve to wipe her face down.

"I miss my ‘My Chemical Romance’ posters." Pixie replied quietly and dejectedly, resting her head against Juice’s neck.

Juice grinned. "You like MCR?" He asked, containing his excitement so he didn’t startle Pixie, but his tone reflected how he was feeling, and he saw Pixie react to that.

She nodded eagerly. "They're one of my favourites." Pixie enthused softly. “They’re so amazing.”

"Me too. What songs do you like?" Juice asked her, feeling like this was a good avenue of distraction for Pixie.

"'Demolition Lovers', 'Helena', and 'I'm Not Okay' are my top three, but I love them all." Pixie listed; her words easier to understand but her breathing still erratic.

"Want me to lend you my CD's sometime?" Juice offered, looking down at Pixie’s face and feeling her trembling against him.

Pixie nodded again, hopefully. "Yes please." She agreed. Then quickly stiffened. "Oh no! Aren't you supposed to be at the dinner by now?" Pixie tried to pull away from Juice, but he held her tightly, soothing the newfound panic.

"No, not when you need me way more. Let me text Jax, and then let's lock up, and I'll stay for as long as you need me, I could probably crash here for tonight if you want. We could have a slumber party." Juice decided, feeling like his loyalties lay with Pixie right now.

Pixie giggled breathily at Juice’s suggestion. "A sleepover?" She asked him, a small smile on Pixie’s lips.

"Yeah, why not? I could show you where Bobby keeps all the good snacks? He won't even notice if we raided the stash." Juice offered, sensing that Pixie was a snack fiend like himself.

"You can stay in my room if you want? The bed is big enough for the two of us, that way you aren't gonna hurt your back by sleeping on the floor." Pixie suggested, wanting to make Juice feel as welcome as possible.

"I've spent so many nights sleeping on the floor before." Juice chuckled but nodded his agreement at Pixie’s proposal. "You remember the first day we met?" He queried, finding a tissue in his pocket and passing it to Pixie.

"Yeah?" Pixie asked him as she dried her face and sat up a little more against Juice.

"I woke up behind the couch in the clubhouse, _way_ too much tequila." Juice confessed with a laugh.

Pixie giggled. "Wow, must have been some party. You looked a little stiff when you walked out that day, I did wonder." She thought aloud, glad that Juice was here with her.

Juice sent a quick text to Jax to let him know they were both okay, and to say sorry to Gemma. Then he put his phone away and got up, pulling Pixie up with him. "C'mon then, kiddo. You feel okay enough to lock up?" He asked, studying Pixie’s face and taking note of what to look for the next time Pixie got nervous enough to warrant a panic attack.

Pixie wiped some escaped tears from her eyes and smiled. "Yeah, thank you, those normally last for so long." Pixie told him, feeling a deep sense of relief that Juice was able to prevent it from getting out of hand.

"You get them regularly?" Juice asked, putting his hands in his pockets, and thinking about how he wanted to try and be there for Pixie more.

"Had them since my teens. They've gotten worse since the attack though." Pixie replied with a sad tone, a sense of frustration there also.

"Well, next time you have another one, call me, _okay_?" Juice told her firmly, letting Pixie know she wasn’t going to have to deal with them all on her own anymore.

"I usually get them at night, though." Pixie informed him, sounding a little guilty.

"Doesn't matter. I always answer my phone, no matter what time it is. So, you call me, yeah?" Juice responded adamantly.

"Yeah, okay. Thanks." Pixie smiled then shook herself a little. "Right, we've got a job to do, let's get this place locked up." Pixie announced, trying to board up all the sensitive parts of her mind, feeling self-conscious for breaking down for the second time today.

"You need to work on your bike more? This thing's a beaut." Juice said patting the handlebars of Pixie’s Harley and looking over it with an appreciative eye.

"Thanks, I love my bike. It's all sorted now though, so I don't need to work on it anymore tonight." Pixie replied, giving the bike an affectionate pat to the leather seat.

"Good. Want me to park it next to mine?" Juice suggested, wanting to do what he could to help.

"Please, don't scratch it or I'll kill you." Pixie grinned as she put the tools away.

"Pinkie promise." Juice joked. They linked fingers and then he let go and began wheeling it across to his. Pixie turned out the lights and closed the shutter as Juice came back with the keys.

"Hey, Pix?" Juice grinned deciding to resort to playfulness to get Pixie feeling back to herself again.

"Yeah?" Pixie asked him in mock-suspicion, smiling too.

"Race you!" Juice called taking off at a run across the lot.

" _Cheat_! You got a head start!" Pixie called and she ran after him. Juice laughed as he ran.

"C'mon, slowpoke!" He called as he reached the clubhouse door. It took Pixie a lot longer, but she reached him in time.

"You never said go." She grumbled, bopping Juice’s shoulder as he opened the door for her.

"That wasn't in the deal." Juice grinned, echoing her from when they played pool.

"Meanie." Pixie chuckled as she opened the door and switched on the lights. They headed inside and Juice took his kutte off before flopping down on the nearest couch, beckoning Pixie over to come sit with him, which she did, flopping down dramatically and making Juice laugh as she jostled him and he put his arm around Pixie.

"I've been thinking, why don't we ask Happy if he'll give you a tattoo for your dad? I know you have the red tally, but with a bigger tattoo, you can look at it more and you could put some meaning behind it." Juice thought aloud, watching Pixie bob her head in agreement.

"I did want to get his bike. He had a Harley; it was a nineteen-eighty-five Lowrider FXSB." Pixie told him, thinking back to the bike with a wistful expression.

"That's a gorgeous bike." Juice said, impressed, hoping he wasn’t upsetting Pixie by bringing it up.

"Yeah, it was his pride and joy. He spent ages just riding it whenever he needed time to think." Pixie reminisced, glad to be able to talk about Bruce.

"I do that too sometimes, helps me clear my head." Juice agreed, watching Pixie take her kutte off and fold it over her lap.

"Same here, I haven't been on a ride since I got here, Chibs said he'd take me on his favourite route once all the warehouse business dies down." Pixie told Juice, smiling at how Chibs had come to her rescue today, and now so had Juice, they were two people Pixie was starting to feel like she could rely on.

"Nice, let me know when, and I'll tag along, I'm interested to see you ride." Juice enthused watching Pixie settle herself and how tired she looked.

"Be real, you just want to see me do stunts." Pixie teased, poking Juice in the ribs.

"Duh! It's so cool!" Juice said, giving a little wiggle of enthusiasm to get Pixie to laugh again.

Pixie giggled. "I promise, I'll show you my stunts as soon as there's time. I could probably do a few wheelies on the lot, it's long enough. I love doing jumps though. Find me a stretch of road with a couple of hills in and I'll be able to get some airtime." Pixie described passionately, her face lighting up as she described what she could do, showing her love for the sport.

"Really? I'd love to see that!" Juice supported, wanting Pixie to open up more with him.

"Sure. I can do BMX bike tricks too, there was a little kids club that did it near my town growing up. I used to do tournaments." Pixie revealed, watching Juice grin encouragingly at her.

"Nice! I'll have to see if we can lay our hands on a bike then." Juice spoke earnestly. His stomach grumbled suddenly, getting some giggles from Pixie.

"Well someone's hungry. Let's find some food." She smiled and playfully patted Juice’s stomach before she stood up and helped him get to his feet too.

"Speaking of which, what have you been eating whilst you've been here?" Juice asked her sceptically, feeling like a big brother to Pixie.

"Instant noodles and cookies that were in my room." Pixie responded, sounding a little guilty.

"Pixie! You gotta have some proper food." Juice replied, stunned, brotherly instincts coming into play properly. "Has no one thought to bring you anything other than that?" He asked her, putting a hand on Pixie’s shoulder.

"Does cereal count?" Pixie asked a little hopefully, feeling a little like she was in trouble.

"Pixie!” Juice shook his head exasperatedly. “Okay, that's it. Tomorrow I'm gonna take you grocery shopping." Juice declared with a smile.

"With what money? I'm broke, Juice." Pixie argued, folding her arms against her chest self-consciously.

"Mine. I'm only gonna spend it on video games I don't even need." Juice retorted, putting his hands on Pixie’s arms and unfolding them, holding her hands instead.

"It's still your money, Juice.” Pixie argued before the latter half of the sentence sunk in. “You play video games?" She asked a little excitedly.

"Yeah, so what? It would help me sleep better if I knew you were actually eating right. You like video games?" Juice reasoned, also getting a little excited over the prospect that Pixie was into gaming too.

"If you're sure, then okay.” Pixie nodded, seeing Juice wasn’t budging on this topic. “Yeah, I used to play them all the time back at home. Bruce loved them too." Pixie replied with a grin.

"Well, when there's a lull in all the chaos, I'll take you to my place and I'll show you my rather extensive collection." Juice decided, looking forward to that day.

"That sounds like fun." Pixie smiled, doing a little jump of eagerness.

"It's sorted then. Right, let's check the utility room freezer, see if there's anything edible aside from noodles." Juice ordered letting go of Pixie’s right hand but towing her along with her left, so she trotted after him. It felt natural spending time with Juice, he always seemed to know what to say to calm her fears and he was so protective. It made her feel less alone. The two of them dug around in the freezer and eventually found a couple boxes of microwave lasagne.

"This isn't a great source of nutrition." Juice grunted reading the back of the box with a frown.

"It's different from noodles though." Pixie argued, not benign particularly fussy with food.

"It's still pasta." Juice retorted, looking at the back of the box.

"Well, one's flat and one's squiggly, that's different enough for me." Pixie reasoned, making Juice laugh.

"If you say so. I'm still taking you shopping tomorrow, you can't live off this shit." Juice shook his head, taking the box from Pixie so he could carry them.

"I didn't want to ask anyone for anything, I'm just used to being independent." Pixie confessed, wanting to show Juice that she had reasons behind why she had been living off of snack food.

"That's okay, but you have to know we're all happy to help you if you need anything, Pix." Juice reassured her, seeing the insecurity in Pixie’s eyes.

"Thanks.” Pixie responded appreciatively. “You know, in less than a week I've already had more support off of you guys than I have in years." She added, wanting to show how glad she was of the support.

"Really?" Juice asked, thinking along the same lines as Pixie, it had been a very long time since he’d had someone to do this kind of thing with and to support and feel support from.

"Yeah, I guess my old charter had more of a tough love approach." Pixie excused, looking down at the wooden floor of the utility room.

Juice put the boxes down. "And you're just a little softie who needs a big hug." Juice cooed playfully at her, giving Pixie a big hug, cheering her up and making them both laugh.

"Hey, I'm tough I swear." Pixie pouted back as Juice released her, got the boxes again and then went to a cupboard where he pulled out the washing powder tub so he could reach an unmarked tin box behind it. Juice pulled it open and showed it to Pixie the contents.

"Bobby thinks no one knows about this, but I found them by accident." Juice grinned, pulling out the packet of gummy bears. "You like these?" he asked, though needlessly as Pixie was already grinning.

"Silly question, of course I do. Are you sure Bobby won't be mad?" Pixie asked, not wanting to get into trouble with the older Sons.

"I'll pick up some gummy bears tomorrow and put them back. That way he'll never know." Juice reasoned. They went to her room and began sorting the lasagnes out and put the timer on for the first one.

"There's clothes and stuff in the dresser if you want to change out of your outfit and get comfier." Pixie said as she sat down on the bed. Juice went to have a look and pulled out some plaid shorts and a grey t-shirt.

"Mind if I go change? I promise I won't screw up your bathroom." Juice smirked, recalling Pixie’s pillow attack on Half-Sack.

Pixie grabbed her pillow playfully, on the same wavelength. "Sure, you know what happens if you do though." She warned with a giggle.

Juice pretended to look fearful. "No! Please, anything but the pillow!" He played along, backing away into the bathroom.

Pixie went into a fit of giggles, setting Juice off as he closed the door. A couple minutes later he emerged with everything neatly folded which he popped onto the dresser. The microwave pinged and he rushed over to get the first one and put the second in the microwave and set it going.

"Ah shit, that's hot." Juice winced as he touched the plastic tray by mistake.

"Well duh, it's been in the microwave, Pixie teased, earning her an eye roll. “You okay?" She added, just to make sure.

Juice shook his hand. "Yeah, I'm just a big baby. I don't even think I burnt it, but I'll go run my hand under the tap for a sec and make sure." Juice said disappearing back into the bathroom. Pixie's right leg began to ache, signifying that she'd had her prosthetic on too long. There was no way Juice wasn't going to notice once she changed out of her jeans and casually took her leg off, so she decided it would be wise to tell him. He came back out of the bathroom and she picked up her pyjamas and they swapped places. Pixie changed into the black t-shirt and put her jogging bottoms on but pulled the right leg up above her knee.

"Hey Juice?" She called out from inside the bathroom.

"Yeah, Pix?" He replied from the bedroom, raising his voice so Pixie could hear him through the door.

"Are you squeamish?" Pixie asked, biting her bottom lip.

"Am I what?" Juice’s voice came back, puzzled.

"Squeamish? Easily grossed out?" Pixie clarified, resting her head against the doorframe, trying to muster enough courage to do what she was about to do.

"Would I be a Son if I was?" Juice’s reply came back, and Pixie nodded, knowing there was no way around this.

"True. Okay, well I kinda need to show you something." She called back; she heard the bed creak as Juice sat down.

"Should I be worried?" He asked, tone revealing that he was indeed rather worried.

"Nah." Pixie called back, fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt.

"Okay?" Juice didn't sound utterly convinced.

"I'm coming out, just don't freak out." Pixie warned, her voice showing how nervous she was.

"I won't, I promise." Juice called back, sounding concerned. Pixie walked back out, her prosthetic on full view. Juice did a double take and his eyebrows raised.

"You're an amputee?" He asked her, startled.

"Would I be wearing this if I wasn't?" Pixie giggled nervously, hands frantically fiddling around with her t-shirt now she was out in the open.

"True, true. Honestly, that's so cool! Can I have a closer look at it?" Juice asked eagerly, trying to give Pixie the courage she needed, sensing this was a very sensitive thing for her to be doing.

Pixie walked over to him so he could see how it worked. There was a metal support in the centre which connected to the ankle joint and the plastic foot. Around the leg was purple plastic to make a rough leg shape so when Pixie wore trousers, it didn't look any different, but meant she could still get around fine. "Does anyone else know?" Juice asked as he inspected the joints and how it moved.

"No just you, I got pretty good at hiding it. Used to use it to scare the living shit out of prospects and visiting charters though. We pulled some serious pranks back in the day." Pixie smiled wistfully.

"Really?" Juice said, still examining the mechanisms.

"Yeah, once we did a prank where they got a jeep to roll onto the edge of my trouser leg, just below my stump and then called the prospects over to deal with some 'club business' I then pretended to scream as soon as they came over and they lost their shit. It was kind of like an initiation to see if they could actually handle being in serious situations. That and I just love pranks." Pixie described, with a little laugh.

Juice chuckled. "That's brutal. Were they okay?" He asked, knowing he would definitely have lost his shit if he’d seen that.

"Yeah, once they realised what had actually happened, they were fine, I made sure I hadn't scarred them after, and we all hugged it out. That's what I do with all my pranks, because I just want a little bit of fun, I don't actually want to cause harm." Pixie elaborated, showing her sweet nature.

"A responsible prankster, I like that." Juice chuckled. The second lasagne timer beeped, and he went up and got it.

"You don't mind if I take my leg off? My stump hurts a little and needs to rest." Pixie explained, sitting down.

"Yeah sure. I'm curious to know what happened, but I don't want to pry, so if you're ever happy to tell me, then I'm all ears, but if not. I still think it's really cool." Juice assured her, and Pixie was moved by how thoughtful he was.

"Thanks Juice, that means a lot." Pixie smiled gratefully. They sat down together and ate their lasagnes whilst watching cartoons, then ate cookies for dessert and messed around with each other, until Juice noticed Pixie was having a hard time staying awake.

"Go brush your teeth, I'll tidy up in here. Are you okay getting to the bathroom?" He checked in, wanting to know how best to help.

Pixie stood up. "Yeah, I did gymnastics all the time as a kid so I have a good balance and I can hop like there's no tomorrow." Pixie said, doing a demonstration of a couple of hops for Juice to see.

"Now you're just a show-off." Juice teased her, watching Pixie make her way to the bathroom.

"I think there's a spare toothbrush in there you can use. I spotted it the other day. It's still in its wrapper so you can have at it." Pixie replied, wanting Juice to feel comfortable.

"That's useful. Gemma thought of everything when she stocked the bathrooms." Juice agreed, as Pixie disappeared and shut the door.

"Yeah." Pixie answered in a non-committal way. She didn't want to think about Gemma right now and how upset she made Pixie feel. She brushed her teeth and re-tied her hair into plaits. She found Juice yawning and stretching as he got ready to sleep and she hopped into bed. Juice went to the bathroom to get ready for bed, then came back a few minutes later.

"Mind if I get under the covers?" He asked as Pixie stretched and rolled onto her side to look at him fully.

"We're sharing a bed, mate, of course I don't mind." Pixie smiled, pulling the covers back for him and shuffling so she was more on the left side and Juice had adequate space for his broad shoulders.

"I just wanted to make sure. I promise I won't try anything; I already think of you as my little sister." Juice reasoned, rolling onto his side so he could face Pixie too.

"That's sweet. You're like a big brother to me too. A big goofy brother." Pixie teased, poking Juice’s chest.

Juice pulled the pillow out from under his head and hit her gently with it. "Don't you start with me." He warned as Pixie rolled onto her back and playfully fought him off as they messed around before they both settled down again. Juice reached up and switched out the light before laying down on his back. There was silence in the room as they both stared up at the ceiling and listened to the different traffic sounds outside. Juice found Pixie's hand and held it in his for comfort as they lay side by side.

"Why haven't you told the others about your leg yet?" Juice asked quietly.

"I don't want them to use it as an excuse to not patch me in. I don't know where the rules lie with disability, but I've had issues with a couple of UK charters because their tiny minds can't comprehend a disabled, female Son." Pixie replied, feeling like there was less pressure in the dark.

"I don't think they will. If anything, I think it just makes you more badass." Juice replied, hearing Pixie’s soft giggle at his phrase.

"I was thinking of telling Chibs, considering he volunteered himself to be my surrogate dad." Pixie responded, the word ‘dad’ having a few more vowels than it should have done as she yawned.

"You should, Chibs really cares for you. He almost came back with me tonight. He really didn't like leaving you on your own up here. I talked him out of it as I know he likes these dinners, but I think he's adamant that you'll come with him to the next one. I don't care what Gemma says, you're family to us." Juice revealed to her, and Pixie was touched to hear how Chibs had wanted to come to her aid too.

"If you're my brother now, does that make Chibs your adopted dad too?" Pixie giggled, lightening the mood.

"I guess it does." Juice laughed quietly. They both went silent for a moment and Juice felt comforted by the way Pixie stroked her thumb along the side of his fingers. "Can I tell you something?" He asked her gently, feeling vulnerable himself.

"Yeah, shoot." Pixie replied immediately, sensing Juice was needing to open up.

"I have OCD and Depression. I keep it hidden from the others, but sometimes it makes me do some crazy shit. I made an inappropriate joke tonight when we went to the crematorium because I just felt so uncomfortable and my OCD was giving me intrusive thoughts about everything it could think of." Juice confessed, sounding intensely troubled, but also like a weight had been lifted off of him now he was able to tell someone what was really going on with him.

"I get that. I've seen other Sons have those conditions before, so it's not as uncommon as you're probably thinking. If you ever get upset about something or you can't handle a situation, tell me and we'll get through it together. If you're insistent on helping me through all my issues, then I'm insisting on helping you through yours. I got your back, bro." Pixie comforted him, showing she really wanted to help him out and repay the support he’d given her.

Juice felt his heart melt. "Thanks, Pixie. When you were having your panic attack, a small part of me felt relieved that it wasn't only me that gets them. I didn't feel so alone all of a sudden." He described, all his suppressed emotions coming back so he could deal with them in this newfound safe space.

"I get that, you make me feel less alone too." Pixie responded softly, squeezing Juice’s hand so he knew she had his back.

"We should have more talks like these. Slumber party therapy sessions." Juice decided, feeling happy.

"Sure. Let's make it a rule that whatever's said in these walls, stays here, that way we can be completely open and honest as we need." Pixie decided, eagerly thinking about spending more time with Juice.

"Can I tell you what I did yesterday?" Juice said after a beat.

"Of course." Pixie agreed, knowing whatever Juice was about to reveal would be pretty gnarly, but wanting to help him all the same.

"We dug up a huge dead Mexican guy and staged a homicide with another dead guy to keep the focus away from the warehouse. There were two women who died in that fire that also happened to have had sex with Tig prior to their deaths." Juice disclosed, trying to wrap his head around yesterday’s events as at the time he’d just been going with the flow and trying not to get into trouble.

"And you guys had to make sure the police didn't find Tig's DNA? That was what he was so worried about then.” The puzzle pieces finally clicked together for Pixie. “That's awful timing though.” She added thinking about Tig. “You said the Mayans burnt it down?"

"Tig talked to you? And yeah. That's why we used a Mexican guy." Juice explained, intrigued that Tig had opened up to Pixie a little.

"Yeah, he confided in me and I convinced him to tell Clay about the mess he made." Pixie described with another little yawn.

"Good on you. The whole time we were staging the murder, I was just thinking about how bizarre it was that we were moving the Mexican man and then this other dead guy and how their afterlife had probably been way more hectic that their actual one. Then it got to me that they were dead, and I couldn't stop thinking about how if my family died, how upset I'd be if someone else did that to them. But it was better than the alternative which was to send Tig and Happy out to kill some living people to draw Hale's manpower away from the warehouse." Juice described, feeling freed by talking about everything with Pixie so it wasn’t building up inside.

"Yeah, that does sound better in a morbid kind of way. I wouldn't worry about the thoughts you had though, that just tells me you have a good heart and you really care for people." Pixie consoled him, wanting Juice to feel better and that his mental health issues weren’t making him a bad person.

"Thanks for listening to me. I just needed to get it off of my chest." Juice yawned too.

"No worries. You can tell me anything. Let's get some sleep, we don't want to be exhausted tomorrow, especially as everything’s so chaotic." Pixie decided, going back to rubbing Juice’s hand.

"Yeah, Night Pixie." Juice smiled in the dark, he had a friend now, a friend who supported him and that was something that meant the world to him.

"Night, Juice." Pixie replied, her mind on a similar wavelength, being so glad Juice was here with her now.

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**So, Pixie and Juice are getting closer! What do you think about their friendship? Here's an example of the 1985 Lowrider FXSB Bruce Barcroft rode! - Lulu ♥♥♥**


	15. Author's Note!

**Thank you so much to everyone who's read my book so far, and to those of you who kindly left Kudos. It means the world to me to know you're enjoying it! -Lulu**


	16. Fun Town Episode: Chapter 1

Pixie awoke feeling the sunshine hitting her face through the blinds and slowly came to the realisation that there was someone in her bed due to the soft, even breathing she could hear as she came back to consciousness. She recalled the events of last night and a smile spread across Pixie’s face as she remembered how Chibs and Juice had looked out for her and helped to support her in her time of need. Juice had stayed over and Pixie and a new best friend and brother, something she thought would never happen again after the massacre. She rolled over to see Juice laying on his side, completely unconscious and breathing heavily. When his face was relaxed like this, Pixie thought he looked a lot younger than he was, he had a babyface for sure, despite him being twenty-six. He had the tan complexion to suggest he was of Latino descent and had more of an oval face with a pointed chin, a thin upper lip and a slightly fuller lower one that always seem to be slightly curled up into a smile. He had long black eyelashes too, that matched what little hair he had on his head. Pixie thought Juice was very sweet looking, but had obviously tried to toughen himself up with the strong muscles, graphic tattoos and shaved head, but she could see the vulnerability there too, and vowed to herself to always be there for Juice so he didn’t have to deal with that alone. Pixie checked the Harley clock on the wall opposite the bed and knew it was time the both of them needed to get up before the others arrived as she had prospect duties to attend to and Juice needed to be ready for action. Pixie felt mischievous and slowly reached forwards with her right index finger and booped Juice's nose. Juice, who had been sleeping peacefully up to this point, gave a snort of confusion and his light brown eyes opened blearily before they focused on Pixie’s cheeky face. Once he realised what was going on, he grinned widely and stretched under the covers.

"Did you just boop me?" Juice asked, eyes narrowing playfully as he returned the boop to the tip of Pixie’s nose, happy to hear the funny little giggle that came from Pixie as a result.

"Yeah.” Pixie grinned, grabbing Juice’s hand away from her face and playing with his fingers. “ We need to get up, the others will be arriving shortly, and you need to get ready in case shit's hitting the fan earlier than expected." She warned, though from the way Pixie sounded, Juice suspected she’d be more than happy staying under the covers with him where it was safe and calm. He felt sorry for how much mental stress Pixie must have experienced only to have to continue to get up every morning and face the world.

"Yeah. I guess. But this bed's so warm and cosy, and it's safe in here." Juice replied, voicing how he knew Pixie was feeling so she knew he understood her, pulling the covers over both of their heads, so they had a little den and rolling onto his back, putting his knees up so they had more room and made a tent.

"True, but if we decided to stay put, the others will just knock the door down and drag us out." Pixie joked, though she was really enjoying hanging out in the little den Juice had made for them, she liked seeing Juice so relaxed too.

"Ugh. Yeah." Juice said with a deep sigh, causing Pixie to giggle again.

“Thanks for last night and for being here for me, it means everything. Pixie smiled and sat up, pulling the covers back down reluctantly. She then reached for her leg, putting it on and then getting up to stretch whilst Juice lay down for a moment longer before he hauled himself to his feet and grunted, rolling his shoulders and doing a few punches to the air to ease his muscles.

"Did you sleep well?" Juice asked, looking up at her once he was done, Pixie certainly looked a lot more relaxed and at ease, and that pleased Juice a lot, making him feel like he’d done a good job.

Pixie smiled, touched at Juice was concerned about her. "I didn't have any nightmares that I can remember, and today was the first day in weeks I woke up with a smile on my face." She confessed, feeling like she could be honest with Juice.

Juice grinned wide. "Awesome! That's good to hear, you needed the sleep. I think I did too." He agreed. “I’m usually really twitchy first thing in the morning with my OCD, but it’s not as bad today.”

“That’s really good, if you ever need help with that, lemme know.” Pixie replied, helping Juice to pull the bed covers straight. Pixie made to speak again but was interrupted by a deep Scottish bellow of " _PIXIE_!". She jumped, hearing the voice and Juice’s eyebrows raised, wondering if she was in trouble, sometimes it was hard to tell with Chibs’ roars, he backed away from the bed, suddenly realising they were in their PJs and he didn’t want Chibs to get the wrong impression. Pixie ran to her door and opened it, just as Chibs reached it, he leant against the doorframe and grinned at her, pleased to see Pixie seemed bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

"Mornin'." He greeted, studying Pixie’s face and taking in her features, wide hazel eyes, long doll-like eyelashes, button nose, full lips and warm caramel skin.

"Geez, Chibs you startled me half to death. Is everything okay?" Pixie asked with a laugh, putting her hand over her heart which was hammering. She was wearing the black hoodie and her hands were currently somewhere inside the sleeves, leaving them to flop around which helped the emphasise her point.

Chibs chortled. "Wanted ta make sure ye were up. There's a carnival in town, Tig and I went down ta have a look, an’ I picked these up fer ye." Chibs explained, watching Pixie cock her head to the side in interest as he reached into an inner pocket of his kutte, and pulled out a handful of little blue tickets. "Tickets are on me, ye deserve ta have a bit o’ fun today." He told Pixie warmly, patting her shoulder before he took her wrist, pulling the sleeve back so he could put the tickets in her hand.

Pixie let out an exuberant squeal and wrapped her arms around Chibs in a tight hug, then gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, making him go beet red. He was surprised by the affection, but somehow it seemed right, and it made him happy that Pixie felt comfortable with him to react so genuinely.

"Thanks, Chibs! I haven't been to a carnival in years!" Pixie exclaimed doing a happy little jump for you, like she was fizzing on the spot, beaming up at Chibs.

"Bah, well." Chibs said bashfully. It was only then that Chibs looked up from Pixie and realised that Juice was standing awkwardly in the corner in his pyjamas. "Juicy boy." Chibs said in a growl, feeling protective of Pixie.

"We didn't do anything, I swear, I just stayed over to make sure Pixie was alright." Juice explained hurriedly, worried that Chibs might come at him with the glare that was currently being delivered to him. In the back of Juice’s head, he noted the change in Chibs, how he seemed to have tucked Pixie under his wing and was in the process of becoming a surrogate dad to her.

Pixie nodded, jumping in to protect Juice. "I had a bad panic attack last night and Juice didn't want to leave me on my own." She admitted in a low tone, making sure the others didn't hear her as she could pick up voices in the main part of the clubhouse now.

Chibs' face changed from anger to concern, his eyes coming off of Juice immediately and back to Pixie, looking her over in worry. "Ye okay, lass? Why didn't ye call me? I had a feeling ye weren't doing so well." Chibs asked his hand twitching at his side for a second as he deliberated on how best to comfort her before he reached up and cupped Pixie’s cheek, running his thumb along her cheekbone. Pixie relaxed into his touch for a moment and he knew he’d made the right call.

"I wanted you to enjoy your dinner. But I promise if I get another one, I'll tell you." Pixie vowed, grateful that he was on her side and wanted to help, she reached for Chibs' hand and entwined her pinkie with his.

Chibs nodded, seeing Pixie was serious about it and was looking a lot better. He chuckled when he caught on to what Pixie was doing with their hands. "Ah, a pinkie promise. Alright then, well get yerselves out fer breakfast and then get ready, Clay wanted us down there ASAP ta make sure there's no funny business going on." Chibs ordered, giving Pixie an eyebrow wiggle at ‘funny business’ that made her laugh.

Pixie nodded and tucked the tickets under a motorcycle paperweight on the dresser before turning to Juice who’d sat down on the desk chair. "Okay, c'mon then Juice, I can hear your stomach growling again from here." Pixie giggled, teasing Juice. She felt like she was in high spirits for the first time in a while, like some of her burdens had lessened. Juice pulled on his jeans and then went after her, but Chibs grabbed his arm and pulled him close so Pixie wouldn't hear them as she trotted down the corridor, oblivious to the interaction behind her.

"Got a shipment comin’ in from tha IRA. We're going ta make sure Pixie isn't here when tha’ happens. She doesn't need ta know, and neither do they." Chibs warned, looking at Juice with a fierce expression, full-on protective mode over Pixie coming close to the IRA.

"Noted." Juice said immediately so Chibs would relax a little. "Poor kid." He added, thinking about the trauma he’d seen clearly displayed during her panic attack.

"She okay?" Chibs asked, going back to feeling anxious for Pixie’s welfare.

"She's coping, but there's a lot of damage there. She was mumbling in her sleep, reliving the massacre and something about Bruce and then she said 'Jimmy'." Juice confessed in a low murmur so only Chibs would hear, deciding Chibs needed to know because of his connection to Pixie and his past.

Chibs paled at this revelation, his heart stuttering in his chest as a barrage of flashbacks and horrific memories came flying back at him like a horde of banshees, unleashed by the name of Jimmy. "Ye don't think...?" He breathed, looking horrified as he thought about the possibility Pixie had come into contact with Jimmy O’ too.

"I don't want to, but yeah. She could be a 'Jimmy O' survivor." Juice voiced his concerns, he’d heard enough from Chibs to know this guy was bad news, and Juice’s research had into Jimmy had given him nightmares of his own.

" _Shite_. No wonder tha poor lass barely escaped. Thanks, fer taking care of her. Ye better go before she notices." Chibs advised, giving Juice a warm smile and put his hand on the back of the younger Son’s neck, giving it a little affectionate squeeze to show he was truly grateful for Juice picking Pixie up when she’d hit rock bottom last night.

"Yeah." Juice replied bashfully, not used to people thanking him or being grateful for him being around. He was used to the opposite. Unsure of what else to say, Juice shoved his hands in his pockets and wandered down the hallway. Tig, Jax and Bobby were at the bar when Pixie came out of the utility room brandishing the cereal box and milk after hunting it down.

"Hey guys." She greeted happily, glad to see the now-familiar faced of the guys she was starting to think of as being her new family.

"You're looking chipper." Tig commented around a mouthful of toast, eager to speak with Pixie again.

"Chew, Tig, I don't want to give you the Heimlich." Pixie scolded playfully, showing her cheeky side as she took her spot next to him at the bar.

Tig rolled his eyes and swallowed, loving how Pixie was able to have a good rapport with him. "You looking forward to the carnival? Chibs given you your tickets?" He questioned, thinking about seeing Pixie relaxed more, hoping her playful side would come out around the carnival and he’d get to experience more of it.

"Of course! I'm dead excited, and yeah, got 'em safe in my room." Pixie confirmed, left leg bouncing at lightning speed. Tig took note, seeing how some part of Pixie always seemed to be on the move, like she had too much energy.

Juice sauntered towards the bar and the guys looked up, noting where he'd come from and immediately fired up with whistles and catcalls. Eager to rag on the younger Son and find out what had been going on last night.

"Looks like Juicy got busy!" Jax hollered, grinning jovially at Juice who blushed immediately and ducked his head, trying to formulate a response.

"We didn't do anything, Juice just stayed to keep me company last night." Pixie grumbled loudly, sticking up for him as she poured out the cereal for herself and Juice. "Not that that's any of _your_ beeswax, Teller." Pixie said pointing her spoon at Jax.

"Ouch, you've been told Jax." Tig chuckled, thoroughly enjoying Pixie's take-no-shit attitude.

Jax shrugged and grinned, leaning back a little so he could see Pixie around Tig. "What damage are you gonna do with that, anyway? You gonna _spoon_ me?" Jax teased back, Bobby chuckled as he nursed his coffee.

Pixie smiled at Jax, eyes glittering in a sinister fashion. "Anything's a weapon if you use it the right way." She said in a sweet voice which didn’t match the crazy look in her eyes, and made the whole thing creepy, reminding Jax of his match with her and how she’d gone into a killer mindset.

"You're a little bit of a psycho, aren't you?" Jax laughed, he could handle crazy, his family was the Sons after all, and he felt a connection with Pixie for sure.

"Would I be a Son if I wasn't?" Pixie countered; the guys chuckled at her comment and the cheeky grin she gave Jax. The others were really enjoying getting closer with Pixie, so they continued with their banter and jokes, getting to know the newest vibrant addition to the ranks. Eventually, Pixie and Juice went to get ready. Pixie came out first, wearing her purple jeans, Doc Martens, a baggy black Harley top and her signature pink kutte. She went straight to the bar and cleared everything up, chatting with Bobby and Tig until she was done, then Pixie decided to go check her bike whilst the others got ready. She found Jax taking a smoke break outside as she wandered past him to her bike.

"You smoke?" Jax called after her, intrigued to see what Pixie was up to now.

"Nope, I don't drink either." Pixie responded, turning around without breaking her stride and walking backwards.

"Wait, wait, wait." Jax answered getting up from the bench and hurrying after her, not quite believing what he was hearing. "You're a Son and you don't drink or smoke? Please tell me you're not a druggie." He asked Pixie, trying to figure out her character and also feeling protective of her. Jax didn’t know quite how to describe it, it just felt like he had a connection to Pixie, and he was already considering her a friend, maybe even a sister.

Pixie wrinkled up her nose at the question as Jax caught up with her and punched him in the arm lightly. "Hell nah, what do you take me for? I don't smoke because Bruce was adamant that I didn't follow after his chain-smoking habit, and I witnessed a horrific drunk driver crash just after I passed my motorcycle AM test, had a shitty little moped whilst I was saving up for my first motorbike. That crash put me off of drinking for good, though. I had to give the only surviving victim CPR, she made it but her family of four didn't. We took out the drunk that caused the victim to lose her family the next day. He was some rich exec with a fancy car and more money than sense." Pixie confessed gravely, her eyes turning haunted and she rammed her hands into her jean pockets to hide the fact they were shaking.

Jax was lost for words, he hadn’t expected those reasons, and the way Pixie spoke was like a part of her was still out on that road pounding the woman’s chest desperately trying to keep her alive. "How old were you?" He breathed, putting a hand on Pixie’s shoulder. She flinched slightly but let Jax keep it there as she stared down at her bike.

"Sixteen." Pixie half-whispered, looking up at Jax and taking a deep breath in and out, steadying herself whilst she locked toe door on the trauma again.  
"Shit, kid, that's awful." Jax sympathised, he had experience with seeing death as a young teenager and knew how hard it was to process it at that age.

Pixie shrugged, her jaw clenching and unclenching for a second before she answered. "I've made peace with it; it feels like it was another lifetime ago with everything else that’s happened, we just have to keep moving forward." She answered, putting her hands on the handlebars of her beloved Harley, feeling the rubber grips on the handlebars, rubbing her thumbs against them for comfort.

"I get that." Jax agreed, thinking about his teen years. They felt like eons away to him too, a whole other life where the world didn’t feel quite so daunting.

Pixie shook her head, clearing her mind and then mounted her bike, picking up her pink helmet. Jax watched her forcibly shrug off the emotions that were trying to weigh her down. "I'm gonna warm up my bike, it's been a still for a couple of days, so it can get a little temperamental." Pixie told Jax, clearly showing that their topic of conversation was over. Jax understood that and refocused onto Pixie’s bike.

"Sure, you gonna loop it round the lot? There's enough space. Looks like you’ve really cleaned it up." Jax commented, looking at how the chrome was glinting in the morning sunlight and the silver reaper on the fuel tank looked as though it was shimmering.

“Yeah, and thanks, worked on it last night.” Pixie nodded to Jax before she put on her helmet. Jax walked back to his bench, turning to watch Pixie start up her bike, rev the engine and then ride down the lot, picking up speed. He reached the clubhouse just as the others wandered out, hearing the bike engine. Pixie turned at the lot gates and came back their way, gaining speed, then pulled the handlebars and eased the bike into a wheelie, standing herself up on the bike. She kept the bike steady as she came their way, then let it down and came to a stop just in front of the group of Bobby, Tig, Jax, Juice and Chibs who were all grinning, fascinated by what Pixie had just done and how easily she’d done it, except for Chibs, who looked horrified for a moment before he recovered, thinking about Pixie’s safety more than anything.

"Fuckin’ hell!" Chibs exclaimed as Pixie pulled up her visor and took off her helmet, beaming widely.

"Relax Chibbie, I've been doing wheelies for almost as long as I could walk." Pixie giggled, patting the thrumming engine of her bike affectionately.

"That was fucking awesome! You have to show us what you can do!" Jax cheered eagerly, he loved seeing stunt riding and couldn’t wait to see more. The others seemed to have the same thought process as Juice was practically fizzing on the spot, and the others clamoured around her wanting to know what other stunts she could do. After a couple of minutes of this, Tig got a call from Clay saying he and Gemma were up at the carnival so the rest of the Sons got their bikes out and prepared to drive. Jax gave Pixie rough directions on where they were heading so she'd have a better idea when driving and they set off in a rough formation with Jax taking the lead, Bobby and Tig behind him, Chibs and Juice behind them and Pixie following the pack at the rear.

As they rode out of town to the quieter roads, it quickly became apparent, however, that Pixie was in the mood for mischief. They reached a long stretch of road where Pixie had good visibility of what the road surface was like and could see ahead of her for quite a way, perfect for stunt riding. Pixie swerved out of formation and accelerated past the Sons who all watched her with intrigued expressions. Pixie did another wheelie as she came past them, and then when she came to a dip in the road, she went faster and used the momentum to gain airtime, launching into a little jump before landing again and coming to a halt at the stop sign at the end of the stretch, heart thumping and feeling the sense of happiness she got when she performed her stunts. Pixie looked over her shoulders at the Sons who were now riding significantly faster to get to her. Jax was the first to reach her, Jax pulling up alongside her with a smirk.

"What're ye playing at, lass?!" Chibs bellowed from his rank, a parental scowl on his face. Pixie pulled up her visor so she could reply, feeling unused to someone having this kind of response, seeing as Bruce and the older Sons usually took no notice and let her do her thing, or encouraged the recklessness as it was useful for Sons missions.

"It's been ages since I rode, I'm just excited." Pixie giggled. “I know what I’m doing, I’ve done it since I was a small child, it’s all good.” She assured him

"No more stunts or Chibs is gonna burst a vein." Jax ordered, giving her a VP scowl, though he couldn’t keep it up for long, his mouth settling back into a smile.

"Alright, alright." Pixie pouted, but the twinkle in her eyes showed she was still in high spirits.

"You can stay up with me though, since you ended up here." Jax told her, deciding not to send her to the back of the pack like he would another prospect, he was enjoying learning more about Pixie. When they set off again, Pixie kept pace with Jax easily, so she decided to play on his ego a little and accelerated just enough for her front wheel to be ahead of Jax's. Jax took the bait and sped up to be just ahead of her. She did the same trick again, and this time, Jax caught on.

"Knock it off, kid!" He shouted to her, shaking his head, though the cocky grin was back.

Pixie responded by taking her hands off of the handlebars to make an innocent gesture, and in doing so, set Chibs off again.

"Pixie! I swear ye're gonna be the death o' me!" She heard him call from behind her. Pixie put her hands on the handlebars again, laughing. They reached another stretch of road and she felt Jax automatically go faster, he was dying to speed, she could feel it. Pixie accelerated and this time, Jax played along, speeding up and the two of them began to race, hurtling down the road, Jax grinning madly as he alternated between looking ahead and checking on Pixie's progress. They reached the stoplight at a perfect tie.

"Okay, we need to find a good track to race on, you're good." Jax beamed, really enjoying himself, he loved how he was able to compete with Pixie, and how she gave as good as she got.

"I'm the best." Pixie giggled, pulling her visor up and doing finger guns at him, Jax chuckled at her playfulness.

"Chibs is gonna kill you when we get to the carnival." Jax commented, pretending to chide her, as they looked over their shoulders and caught the dagger-like glare on Chibs' face. "Oh, he's pissed." Jax laughed, it wasn’t often he saw that look on Chibs.

"Oopsie." Pixie giggled, baffled by Chibs’ behaviour after not really having boundaries before. In the back of her mind she was concerned that maybe she’d pushed too hard, she just didn’t know when was enough, and she was loving causing mayhem.

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	17. Fun Town Episode: Chapter 2

The group parked up their bikes in a patch of dry dirt and grass that had been marked out as a temporary parking lot at the gates of the large field housing the travelling carnival. There were tall trees of various kids dotted around, all looking parched under the California sun. Pixie was still getting used to the change in temperature having lived in the UK most of her life, so had been glad of the cool wind swirling around as she’d ridden over with the Sons. Now they’d stopped riding, however, she was quickly starting to heat up again. She took off her helmet along with the other Sons, joking and chatting with each other about the stunts Pixie had just pulled off as well as their eagerness to enjoy their time at the carnival before they had to knuckle down again. As Pixie put her helmet on her handlebars, a hand grabbed the back of her kutte and hauled her backwards. Pixie, immediately fought back, managing to twist around in the person's grip and delivered a swift kick to a thankfully booted ankle, then realised it was Chibs. He let go of her kutte in favour of putting his hands on her shoulders, looking down at her, seething.

"What’re you tryin’ ta do? Scare me half ta death?" Chibs shouted, unable to calm the protectiveness of Pixie he was feeling inside over her reckless behaviour out on the roads.

"No! I was just having fun; I know what I'm doing!" Pixie retorted defensively, struggling to understand why Chibs was raking her over the coals for what she’d just done.

"Did ye stop ta think that if Hale caught ye ridin’ like tha’ he'd haul yer ass to jail? Tha’ was  _ stupid _ ! Ye could’ve hit a pothole an’ tha’ would've been tha end o’ ye!" Chibs fired back, grip tightening on Pixie’s shoulders as he thought about all the possible ways Pixie could have gotten hurt. He’d meant what he’d said about trying to be a dad and a positive influence for Pixie, and he felt the need to safeguard and look out for her.

"That's why I only did the stunts on roads where I could see for a good distance, I saw no squad car, and no holes, so I went for it!" Pixie argued, trying to get a handle on the situation. She really wasn’t used to people worrying about her safety on this level, let alone telling her off like this. She looked up into Chibs’ eyes and saw the huge amount of concern he had for her, and realised he wasn’t yelling angrily, but yelling anxiously, scolding her for causing him to worry because he didn’t want anything to happen to her. He cared for her so much already, and that softened Pixie’s demeanour, touched that Chibs was looking out for her in a way nobody else had really done for a very long time.

"C'mon man, the last race was partly on me, I took the kid's bait." Jax tried to reason, stepping in once he saw Pixie and Chibs were slowly diffusing and both of them emotional. Chibs took a deep breath and rubbed his face with his right hand before he put it back on Pixie’s shoulder.

“Wha’ am I gonna do with ye, hey?” Chibs returned his gaze to Pixie’s face, seeing the vulnerability there, his voice was softer now, back down to just below normal volume.

"I'm sorry I scared you Chibs, I didn't mean to do that, really. I'll warn you next time, I promise. Though I'm not sorry for doing my stunts, I love them and they're the only time where I feel fully free and in control of everything, and I need to feel like that at the minute." Pixie told Chibs, taking some breaths to steady her temper, but her voice was firm, showing she wasn’t backing down now she understood that this wasn't an actual fight, but more of Chibs worrying for her safety.

Chibs nodded, then pulled her in for a tight hug. "Sorry I yelled at ye, ye're still a wee shite fer scarin’ me, but I forgive you." Chibs told her, feeling Pixie relax into his touch and snuggle into him for a moment as she hugged him back, breathing in his calming scent of Irish soap and sandalwood.

“I’ll try not to be so wild out on the roads next time, that okay?” Pixie asked Chibs hopefully, gazing up at him with her big hazel doe eyes. Chibs went weak at the knees, enchanted by this little firecracker of a young woman he’d decided needed his support.

“Aye, tha’s fine with me.” Chibs assured her, on impulse he kissed the top of Pixie’s head and then released her. Pixie smiled and shrugged off the last of the tension, now she knew Chibs had her back still.

"Are you guys good?" Tig asked warily, looking at Pixie and Chibs as they smiled at each other before they turned their attention to him. He’d known Chibs for well over a decade and had rarely seen him get so flustered, and it made Tig glad in a way, Chibs was a caretaker at heart, he needed to look after people to make himself feel whole, and if Pixie was able to give Chibs what Jimmy had stripped him of, then Tig was all the more for it.

"Aye, we're good." Chibs smiled down at Pixie, though Pixie didn’t have much time to respond before she was picked up by Tig who put his hands under her arms and swung her around in the air before he set her down again. Pixie couldn’t help the surprised laugh that came out of her, loving the chance to be playful again.

"You’re a  _ gorgeous  _ rider doll!” Tig cheered, putting an arm around Pixie’s shoulders, glad he made the right decision. He’d been watching how Pixie interacted with Juice and Jax, getting physical and loving to roughhouse with them, so he figured he’d give that a shot too. “I mean damn! Those stunts were incredible!" He continued, eager to see Pixie's excited smile come back and the delicate blush that settled over her cheeks.

"Happy you liked 'em! I need more long roads like the ones back there so I can do more tricks.” Pixie responded like a bouncy puppy. She looked over her shoulder at Chibs. “One’s that’re deserted and no potholes?” She reasoned, grinning when Chibs nodded his approval, though he looked hesitant over the thought of Pixie doing more dangerous stuff.

"Leave that with me, I'll go looking, darlin’." Tig beamed before he released his arm from Pixie’s shoulders, refocusing on the task at hand, which was finding Clay, Bobby was waiting for him at the entrance and the two Sons strode in together.

“Stay out of trouble.” Jax told Pixie, giving her a fist bump before he lit a cigarette and went off on his own, probably to go look for Opie.

“You too!” Pixie called back after him as Chibs returned to Pixie’s side and Juice came over too, looking hopeful that he could go around the carnival with Pixie.

"Stay at tha carnival. We cannae have anythin’ happen ta ye. Ye lose us, ye've got our numbers, haven't you?" Chibs instructed, going full force into dad mode which Juice found intriguing to say the least, he noticed Chibs’ voice seemed to take on a 'protective dad' tone whenever he was with Pixie, it just seemed so natural for them both.

"Yep!" Pixie replied enthusiastically, pulling out the silver phone to show Chibs, waving it before tucking it back into her kutte again.

"Good lass, if ye want ta head back, find one of us, aye?" Chibs informed her, going through all the possible scenarios in his head.

"Pinkie promise." Pixie giggled, finding it sweet how Chibs was going all-out on her, and also feeling the excitement of being at the carnival and getting to have fun. Especially now that she'd made peace with Chibs and knew that Tig and the others liked her riding style. Chibs chuckled and they exchanged pinkies before he went walking off in the direction Tig and Bobby had headed.

“Wanna come round with me?” Juice offered hopefully. Pixie linked her arm with his in response.

“Of course, mate, we’re buds.” Pixie told him as if it was obvious and Juice beamed like an excited Labrador, happy that Pixie had verbally acknowledged their friendship and had been set on spending time with him even before he’d asked.

"Awesome. Where did the pinkie promise thing come from anyways?" Juice asked as they started walking in together. Pixie was so grateful to have Juice with her, being alone was not something she was able to deal with right now, and she felt so comfortable with him, like she could tell Juice anything and he’d just accept it.

"I used to do it with Bruce growing up as a way for him to know I was serious about something and wouldn't just goof off. Then when I patched in, I realised that it works pretty well for getting the other Sons to promise things because I know most of them wouldn't want to do it because it lost them manhood points or whatever, so if I  _ could  _ get them to do it, it lets me know that whatever they were swearing they weren't going to do, or promising that they were, then they were serious about it and desperate enough to exchange pinkies. It ended up being called 'the sacred pinkie' at my club as a joke." Pixie described with a humoured tone, thinking about how she’d implemented it at Highton over the years, it had certainly come in handy for some moments. She tried not to dwell on it too much, however, as just merely thinking of Highton brought a wave of pain over her that Pixie could barely even comprehend.

"That actually makes a lot of sense." Juice chuckled at Pixie’s explanation and caught the brief moment of anguish in her eyes before it was gone again. "Chibs is really protective of you, he was muttering curses the whole time he was riding after you." Juice told her, wanting to remind Pixie that she had support at the club now.

"It's comforting to know he's in my corner. Especially after I lost everyone, I've got to rebuild a family again." Pixie replied, a deep sadness in her voice before she cleared her throat. Her left hand was playing with the hem of her t-shirt whilst her right tightened around Juice’s arm a little more.

"Who said anything about rebuilding? You've already got a family right here. I’m your brother now, and I think Chibs is determined not to lose you either. He's already lost one daughter." Juice reaffirmed, unlinking his arm in favour of putting it around Pixie's shoulders as they walked, hugging her to his strong side.

"Thanks, bro.” Pixie smiled gratefully. “Chibs lost a daughter?" She added, his behaviour starting to make a little more sense in her mind.

"Yeah, Chibs doesn't really open up much, but he had a run-in with the IRA, they gave him the scars and made him leave. Sambel took him in and sent him over here, but he had to leave his ex-wife and daughter behind." Juice explained concisely, he knew it wasn’t his story to tell, but felt like Pixie ought to know why Chibs was acting so anxious and protective around her.

"Poor guy." Pixie gasped, realising they had a connection there, losing family to the exploits of the IRA, and potentially even Jimmy. Pixie’s heart went out to Chibs, especially when he could have used that pain to turn to anger, but instead, he was using it to try and help Pixie. "Hopefully I can help ease his pain a little, or at least keep him distracted." Pixie decided, wanting to repay what Chibs had been attempting to do with her. He deserved a family just as much as Pixie and Juice did.

"You're definitely doing both." Juice chuckled. “Never seem him so distracted before, and before I came to see you last night, all Chibs could talk about was how good of a fighter you are and how he’s looking forward to getting to know you better.” He revealed as Pixie beamed widely, flattered that Chibs was thinking of her.

"Sambel is the Belfast charter isn't it? Keith McGee helped set up my charter, used to be an independent MC called the ‘Highton Hogs’ until then, Bruce was the president, we patched in nineteen-eighty-eight. I was two at the time." Pixie commented, feeling able to open up.

"Yeah? That’s really interesting, you’ve got biker blood then.” Juice replied, intrigued by this little factoid. “Did you hear a lot about Samcro growing up?" He asked, wondering what it must have been like to grow up in a motorcycle club. This world was the only one Pixie had ever known.

"Yeah, mainly stuff about the First Nine, they became legends, kinda like knights of the round table. My last charter, Samhi, got visits from US nomads sometimes, and nomads being nomads brought all kinds of tall tales with them, some bullshit and some too crazy not to be true." Pixie reflected, suppressing the lump in her throat that threatened to choke her on her sorrow.

"That must’ve been fun to listen to. Your charter had a lot of Sons, twenty-seven, right? What was the dynamic there?" Juice quizzed, he could tell Pixie was feeling taught, but wanted her to see she could talk about the good things and that there were memories to hang onto.

"A couple were nomads, most were locals. The whole town was basically run by Sons, a little like some towns have a high military count I guess." Pixie thought aloud, thinking of all the faces she’d never see again.

"Wow, a whole town of Sons, must have been hectic." Juice prompted, pulling Pixie away from the pain as they walked through stalls selling handmade trinkets and carnival memorabilia.

"We had one of the lowest crime rates in the area, believe it or not. We ran the town and kept it safe from criminals and other gangs." Pixie answered, a sense of pride in her voice as she spoke about her club.

“Sons as law enforcement. That’s a weird concept.” Juice laughed, baffled by hat thought. After this, Juice and Pixie walked in comfortable silence whilst they thought over the conversation and took in the festivities and colourful stalls and attractions around them. Upbeat carnival music wafted through on the slight breeze, accompanied by crowd chatter, the sounds of mechanical rides and children’s laughter and shouts as they raced around the place with their parents. Juice decided Pixie needed a distraction when he spotted Pixie’s lower lip starting to get bitten again, it was her day to just let loose, not think about the trauma that had led her here.

"Hey, wanna go on the Ferris wheel? You'd probably be able to see most of Charming from up there, then we can go get candy." Juice decided, taking his big brother role seriously.

"Yeah! I saw a guy selling candy floss, I love that stuff!" Pixie enthused at the prospect of hanging out and doing fun things with Juice. “That Ferris wheel is huge.” She added, pointing to the big circular structure decorated in rainbow bunting and vibrant paint of blues and greens on each of the carriages.

"You sure you're okay with the height? Bet you're a scaredy-cat." Juice teased, ruffling Pixie’s hair and nudging her. Pixie giggled and playfully shoved him, enjoying the distraction Juice was providing.

"Sure you're not just projecting?" Pixie joked, sticking her tongue out at Juice as she swerved and dodged him as he tried to get a hold of her, eager to play with Pixie.

"No way! Let's go." Juice finally managed to get a hold of Pixie and lifted her up and over his shoulder, causing Pixie to giggle so hard she began to hiccup, causing Juice to laugh too as he carried her, so happy to have a friend in the world.

☠️☠️☠️

Juice and Pixie went on a couple of rides after the Ferris wheel, doing a haunted house ride, a funhouse where they teased each other about the mirrors and tried to trick each other with the dead ends. They also did some of the carnival games such as hook-a-duck, ring toss and a coconut shy. They were just revelling in the feeling of getting to know one another and becoming closer by the minute, glad to be able to just forget about Sons duties and real-world horrors for the time being. When Pixie and Juice started slowing down from their high-energy rush, they decided to head towards the food trucks in search of some junk food to pig out on. As they strode over to that general direction, Juice's phone buzzed and he answered it immediately, not wanting to take a chance. As soon as he did, the laid-back happy light left his eyes and his face fell. Pixie instantly became worried and stopped walking, wanting to know what was going on.

"Thanks, I'll tell him. See you there." Juice told the recipient in a serious tone before he hung up, tipped his head back and groaned. "Club business, are you okay staying here? Go find one of the others maybe. I've gotta find Clay." Juice described with a grumpy face, showing that if he had a choice, he would be staying with Pixie.

"Is everything okay?" Pixie queried, her anxiety sinking its claws in for the first time that day, she didn’t want anything happening to her new brother, and her new charter.

Juice put both of his hands on Pixie's shoulders and gave them a comforting squeeze, looking into her hazel eyes with his warm chocolate brown pair. "Hey, don't worry okay? It's just routine club business, you know I'd tell you if there was a problem." He told her gently, easing Pixie’s qualms and soothing her.

Pixie nodded, closing her eyes for a second before looking back at Juice again. "I trust you, hope it goes well.” Pixie replied honestly, warming Juice’s heart and she watched his grin return at the fact that Pixie had told him she trusted him. “Do you still want to hang out later?" She asked optimistically, wanting to have more time with Juice. He made her feel normal and safe and Pixie needed that now more than ever.

"Oh totally, don't think I haven't forgotten our shopping trip, kiddo." Juice grinned, wishing he didn’t have to leave Pixie. "Right, I gotta go, have fun, alright?" Juice told her reluctantly, ruffling Pixie’s hair again.

"Yeah, buzz off before Clay gets antsy." Pixie grinned back jokingly. Juice smiled and gently punched her shoulder before he jogged off, head on a swivel looking out for their president. Once he was out of sight, Pixie decided to wander around and see what she could find to entertain herself and keep herself distracted. She rounded the left corner of the aisle she was in and spotted a tall, broad figure with a Sons kutte, leather jacket underneath and a beanie. He had dark blue baggy jeans and thick silver wallet chains swinging from them and on his feet were big worn brown workman’s boots. Pixie recognised the figure as Opie, so ran over to him excitedly, wanting to be friendly with her Sons brethren and get to know him better.

"Opie!" Pixie chirped as she got within earshot. Opie immediately spun around, eyes scanning for who was after him before he homed in on Pixie. A wide grin appeared, and he waved to her, beckoning her over as Pixie jogged over, a bounce in her step like a Joey.

"Hey, Pixie, you a’ight?" Opie greeted when Pixie got to him, bouncing a little on her toes, beaming up at him excitedly.

"Hey, Opie! Yup, Juice went off to do some club business, you okay?" Pixie tipped her head up to look at his face, their height difference was very prominent. As Pixie spoke, a petite woman with a brown bob cut and two children came to Opie's side.

"Yeah, taking my family out for a bit.” Opie gestured to the trio who’d joined him. “Pixie, this is my wife Donna, and my kids, Ellie and Kenny." Opie introduced affectionately.

Pixie took in Opie's family, wanting to get to know them all better. His wife was beautiful, she had vibrant blue eyes and a steely determined gaze which let Pixie know that this was a strong woman. She had dark brown hair in a bob cut and her face was rounded with a straight nose and full lips. She wore a red and white gingham knee-length sundress, with thin straps on the shoulders and a sweetheart neckline. She had a straw boater to keep the sin from her eyes, delicate strawberry earrings and yellow ballet flats, the overall look was so sweet and whimsical that Pixie felt herself becoming enchanted by Donna. Opie's daughter, Ellie was gorgeous too, she looked to be around the age of nine and you could already tell she was going to take after her father, she was tall for her age and had blonde hair tied up in plaits. Her blue eyes observedPixie carefully and she seemed to be quite a deep thinker. She had Opie’s height and looked to be tall for her age with broad shoulders and an oval face shape. She was wearing a grey vest top with a blue anchor on the front and pink accents, pink shorts and blue and pink sandals. Kenny was much smaller than Ellie, he looked to be around five years old and had the lighter bone structure of his mum, he matched her with a mop of chestnut, rounded babyish face and a sweet smile. He had a greyest top too, only he had superman on the front, denim shorts and dark blue converse. He shyly clung to his mum's leg in anticipation of who Pixie was and why she was approaching his family. Pixie decided it would be a good thing to break the tension, she could tell both kids were wary, and Donna was anxious.

"Hi Donna, it's lovely to meet you!" Pixie said earnestly. "You've got to tell me how you get your hair so smooth like that, my hair is unruly at the best of times and constantly goes frizzy if I even so much as look at it sideways." Pixie giggled. Donna blushed delicately and smiled; her nervousness eased a little.

"Thank you, Opie told me a bit about you, you're from the UK?" Donna replied politely, her voice soft and musical, putting Pixie at ease.

"Yep, West Lancashire. The weather's much nicer over here, you guys are lucky." Pixie replied with a gesture up to the bright azure blue sky. Pixie then turned her attention to Ellie. "Hiya, Ellie! I love your pink shorts." Pixie enthused, stooping a little so she wasn’t towering over Ellie, not that Pixie could really tower over anything with her stature, and relaxed her body language so she was as friendly and inviting as possible.

Ellie smiled and nodded, responding to Pixie well. "I like pink a lot, do you?" She asked quietly, she had the same lilt as her mum.

Pixie nodded enthusiastically. "It's one of my favourite colours too! Though you wear it a lot better than me, you're so pretty!" Pixie told her, goofing herself up to further relax the children and tapping into her hyperactive nature.

Ellie giggled at Pixie’s enthusiasm and the way she was bouncing a little. "No, I'm not." Ellie argued playfully, bringing her hands up to her face shyly.

Pixie put on a pantomime performance of gasping and staggering backwards, pretending to almost fall over, before grabbing Ellie's hands in hers. "Oh! You wound me! How can such a beautiful princess not see how gorgeous she is?" Pixie exclaimed in an overly posh English accent. This made Ellie start to laugh hysterically and even Kenny and their parents started to chuckle too.

“You’re silly!” Ellie told Pixie, warming up to her rapidly. Now Pixie had broken the ice she turned her attention to Kenny, noticing that he had a baseball clutched in one hand.

"And you! Wowie mister! Are you good at throwing? Lemme see!" Pixie urged upping the excitement. Kenny nodded shyly so Pixie took a few steps back and put out her hands in a classic catching pose. Kenny looked up at his mum for reassurance again, so Donna nodded and smiled encouragingly. Kenny threw the ball to Pixie, who caught it and made a performance of spinning on the spot and flopping to the floor, causing the little Winston kids to squeal and laugh, pointing at their new friend. "What a throw! You're gonna be the best baseball player this state's ever seen! You're so strong already!" Pixie bolstered his confidence and watched how the little boy beamed at the praise as Pixie righted herself and gave him his ball back.

"Dad says he'll take me on some of the big rides later if we're good." Kenny told her shyly, feeling comfortable enough to speak up about something he was excited for, reaching up and grasping Opie’s big hand.

Pixie grinned. "You're so lucky! I bet you'll be braver than your dad." Pixie joked, causing Kenny to giggle. Pixie glanced up at him to see an overwhelmed expression on Opie's face as Kenny smiled back at her. Pixie catalogued the expression, unsure of what it meant just yet, but not wanting to draw attention to it, she refocused on the kids again whilst Donna glanced up at Opie and tucked herself under his arm to comfort him. “The rides are really good ones here, I went on a few earlier.” Pixie continued, kneeling down so she could talk to the kids better.

"Do you get scared on rides?" Ellie asked curiously, her eyes looking at Pixie’s kutte intently, taking it in with an intrigued expression.

"Me? Sometimes, sweetie. When I do, I just pretend I'm a superhero who's flying really fast and then I feel better." Pixie grinned. “Just like Superman.” Pixie added, pointing to Kenny’s top. This seemed to have been the magic word as Kenny suddenly began to jump up and down at the mention of ‘Superman’ and tipped his head up to look at his parents eagerly.

"Mom! Dad! Let's go on that big swirly one! We can all be superheroes!" Kenny said pointing at a kid’s rollercoaster ride that’s track had a horizontal looping infinity symbol, with the carriages made to look like a dragon. Ellie joined in on Kenny’s antics and before Donna even had a chance to resist, she was being towed across towards the ride by the two of them who already had their fists out in a classic superhero in flight pose.

"You better catch up with them before they go on the ride without you." Pixie giggled, looking up to Opie again and seeing he still looked overwhelmed. "Your family's lovely, Opie." She added softly, trying to see what the issue was, wondering if maybe she’d overstepped or something.

Opie cleared his throat then put his hand on her shoulder. "Thanks for making my kids laugh. It's been a while since I saw them that happy. You're good with kids, wish I was like that." He told her sincerely, his voice a little choked and there was a bittersweet smile on his face that reflected the anguish in his deep brown eyes.

Pixie now understood what the previous look had been about. Having spent time in jail, his kids had grown apart from him, and Opie was worried he’d never get the bond he’d had with them back again. "Opie, you'll get there with them, trust me, mate. They just need a little time to adjust as you’ve spent years away from them. You're a good dad, so they’ll warm up to you, I don’t doubt that for a second, just be encouraging and listen to them.” Pixie advised, reaching out and patting Opie’s right bicep comfortingly. “Now go catch up to them before Donna gets her arms pulled off." She joked, giving him an encouraging smile. The tall man smiled back at her, nodded and sauntered over to where his wife was desperately trying to calm the two kids and get them into the queue.

After meeting the Winstons, Pixie decided to walk around a little more, taking in all the sights and the fun atmosphere which seemed worlds away from everything she’d been fighting for the last couple of weeks. It almost felt like this was a reprieve, that things might look up from here on out, and Pixie certainly hoped so, she needed a break desperately. After finishing off a small bag of popcorn and winning a plastic green car on a keyring from a ring toss, Pixie then decided to try out one of the other rides called the 'Spinout'. It looked like a wheel set horizontally on a tilting, spinning axis with half a dozen metal spokes radiating out from the centre and each one had a black carriage where two people could sit and get twirled around at high speeds as the wheel turned and rocked. It seemed really fun to Pixie, being the adrenaline junkie that she was, so she headed in that direction and joined the line of people, coming to a stop next to a light-brown haired girl with a pink t-shirt, light blue jeans that cut off at the knee and pale blue trainers. The younger girl looked up from where she'd been idly toeing a grassy knoll. She had a pointed chin, high cheekbones, a straight nose and glittery green eyes, reminding Pixie of an elven princess.

"Hi, have you been on the Spinout before?" The girl asked Pixie, taking in Pixie’s appearance and deciding Pixie looked friendly enough to chat with. The girl couldn’t have been more than thirteen, Pixie estimated.

"No, have you?" Pixie asked, intrigued to hear if the ride was as good as it looked.

The girl nodded eagerly. "Yeah! About four times, it's so fun!" She enthused, with a smile, showing perfect straight white teeth.

"It does look really fun, I'm Pixie by the way." Pixie introduced with a happy smile, glad to be able to socialise.

"Tristen, I haven't seen you around here before." Tristen replied, interested by Pixie. “You have a funny accent too, where’s that from?” She asked curiously and Pixie laughed, to her, it felt like everyone else had weird accents.

"It’s a type of English accent, I just moved here a couple days ago, do you live in Charming?" Pixie informed her, being as vague as possible to protect herself.

"Yeah, my dad has a lot of business around here.” Tristen told Pixie as she examined her nails causally. “It's so cool that the carnival came!" She added, gesturing to the colourful surroundings.

"I know, it's been ages since I went to one, they're a lot of fun." Pixie agreed. “What’s your favourite part about them?” She asked her, wanting to get to know Tristen more, seeing if she could get a better understanding of the Charming locals.

"My mom doesn't think they’re fun, but I agree. I love going on super-fast rides the best, that and eating all the candy and food they have here." Tristan told her eagerly as they took a step forward in the queue.

"Bit of a daredevil? I'm the same." Pixie replied, feeling relaxed, she wondered idly what the other Sons were up to, but knew they’d call her if they needed her, so pushed that thought away for the moment, in favour of enjoying the present.

"Great! They put you in pairs on this ride, want to go with me? Last time I sat next to an old lady and she wouldn't stop complaining." Tristen asked hopefully, with a little laugh. Her laugh sounded like bells tinkling and Pixie thought she was such a sweet girl.

Pixie giggled too. "Sure, thing! I’d love that, Tristen." She agreed eagerly, resulting in a grin from the younger girl.

The two of them chatted animatedly in the queue until it was their turn. Pixie really liked Tristen, she was sweet and funny and when they went on the ride, they squealed together as they shot around and around. When the ride ended, the two girls staggered off together holding onto each other for support whilst they recovered from their dizziness. Their hearts were beating wildly in their chest and neither of them could see straight, but they were thoroughly enjoying themselves as their adrenaline raced through them.

"I can see why you've been on that five times, it's crazy!" Pixie enthused, trying to keep Tristen up not trip at the same time.

"I know right! I don't think I'll be able to go on it any more today though, I'm getting hungry and I don't think that's a good ride to go on after you've eaten." Tristen decided with a giggle as the two females leant against a fence, so they didn’t fall over.

"That's a good thought, you'll have to see if you can persuade your parents to take you back tomorrow maybe?” Pixie reasoned, grinning as she slowly started seeing the world normally again instead of tilting wildly. “Want to go to a food truck with me?" Pixie asked Tristen, wanting to look out for the younger girl.

"I'm supposed to meet my parents back at the ice cream truck.” Tristen told her, pointing to the yellow one a few meters away from the ride. “I don't see them, but I'll go hang out there for a bit and maybe go to the arcade if they don't turn up. My dad likes some of the games there, so he probably got distracted." Tristen decided she seemed comfortable with being on her own and Pixie guessed that was due to living in a small town where everyone knew each other, she’d grown up with that in Highton, but still wanted to make sure Tristen would stay safe.

"Want me to walk you back? I could wait with you." Pixie volunteered, trying to think of how to reason with a thirteen-year-old she’d just met.

"No, it's okay, they're bound to turn up, it was really nice chatting to you though, if I see you around, we should hang out sometime!" Tristen smiled, giving Pixie a high-five.

"Totally! Well, have a great rest of the day!" Pixie wished her earnestly. She watched as Tristen gave a goodbye wave and wandered over to the ice cream vendor further down the row of attractions. Pixie kept her eyes trained on the girl, hoping she would see her reunite with her parents. Tristen leant against the ice cream truck and examined her nails for a moment or two, before a man in a clown costume approached her. His makeup was smudged and looked like it had to have been reapplied hastily. He gave her a balloon and some tickets, telling Tristen something that made her laugh, before they walked off together almost immediately. Pixie watched them go, guessing the clown and Tristen might know each other, he may be a local too, but Pixie wasn’t sure. She didn’t have much of an option to do anything about it, however, as she abruptly lost track of them as a broad torso in a black t-shirt and Sons kutte blocked her vision. Pixie startled for a moment before she tipped her head up and found herself looking up at Tig. He had his signature sunglasses on, and a big smile.

"Found you, doll!” He declared triumphantly. He watched as Pixie looked around him and then back up at him again, so he glanced over his shoulder. "What’s up?" He prompted, working out if he should be concerned or not.

"Hey Tig, I was just looking at a girl I went on a ride with, she was really sweet." Pixie filled him in with a happy smile. “Lost her in the crowd though, hope she’s meeting back up with her parents.” Pixie added, wishing the best for Tristen.

"Aw, you made a friend? We could go say 'hi'?" Tig cooed, finding it adorable that Pixie was looking out for an acquaintance and was also really happy to see Pixie looking so relaxed.

"No, it's okay, I didn't see where she went.” Pixie reassured him, not wanting Tig to worry any more than he had to. “What’re you up to, tough guy?" She asked him, interested to see what Tig was up to and why he’d come to find her. Pixie really hoped she might get to spend some more time with him. Tig intrigued her, and she always felt little butterflies whenever he smiled at her which was something Pixie hadn’t really experienced before.

"Came to find you, the others have gone back to the clubhouse." Tig clarified, sticking a thumb over his shoulder in the general direction of the clubhouse, watching Pixie as she smiled sweetly up at him, head tilting to one side in thought.

"Juice said something about club business. Do we need to go back?" Pixie asked, feeling a little anxious, and dreading a lockdown.

Tig could see the worry on Pixie’s face, so tried to reassure her. "Nah, it's already being handled, plus it's getting dark, so we decided someone needed to stay with you." He told her, giving Pixie a smile.

Pixie still looked concerned. "Shouldn't you be down there? You're Sergeant at Arms after all." She questioned, shifting from foot to foot, clearly. Tig felt his heart weakening at the worried look on Pixie's face.

"Hey, it’s all good, doll.” Tig assured her, reaching a hand out and stroking it down Pixie’s right arm, the feeling of his hand, big, rough and warm caused Pixie to blush and melt a little under the touch before she pulled herself together. “Clay's got everyone else and we're not expecting any tension, it's just an old friend visiting.” He explained, Pixie listened and nodded, allowing herself to relax a little again. “Juice is gonna do his liaison thing and Chibs knows the guy really well, so they needed to be there, but I’m right where I need to be, darlin’." He finished, watching Pixie take on the information and accept it, calming herself down.

"Okay." Pixie agreed, brightening up a little now she knew there was nothing dangerous or untoward happening. “So, what’re you up to then, tough guy?” She queried playfully, wanting to see more of Tig’s fun side.

"A little Chibbie told me you're good at darts, that true?" Tig questioned in his usual goofy way, causing Pixie to smile as she shrugged.

"I might be, why?" She replied cheekily. Tig watched the mischievous grin appear on Pixie’s face and the way she looked up at him with those big hazel doe eyes and he found himself swooning. Pixie mesmerised and fascinated him, and Tig wished he could watch her all day.

"Found a darts game, bet you can't beat me." Tig smirked, his tone teasing and he watched how Pixie bounced a little on the toes of her boots excitedly.

"Oh, that's fightin' talk." Pixie responded eagerly, admiring how Tig chuckled a little and put his hands on his hips, his blue eyes tracking Pixie’s every movement, captivated. Had had to admit, she was feeling the same way, there was just something so special about Tig, the way his blue eyes seemed to reflect exactly how he was feeling, and how even though he was big and tough, there was such a bounce to him, a want to be playful and to have fun which Pixie really connected to. "What’re the stakes?" She quizzed, playfully putting up her fists like she was ready to box, Tig smiled and did the same, touching knuckles with her like you’d do at the start of a boxing match. Pixie felt the cool kiss of his thick gold rings on his fingers as well as the warm rough skin of his hands and the contact almost felt electric.

Tig thought for a second, debating with himself before he decided to just go for it. "If  _ you _ win, I'll take you to my favourite diner for milkshakes. If  _ I _ win, you owe me a beer. How does that sound, doll?" He challenged, raising an eyebrow. Pixie grinned confidently in response, hazel eyes shining.

She nodded eagerly. "Oh, you're on, hope you brought your wallet." Pixie taunted with a giggle, beaming up at Tig as she started bouncing a little on her toes. Tig wondered if that habit wasn’t about nervousness, but just a way for Pixie to channel the bubbly energy that she seemed to possess.

Tig laughed watching her bounce a little and finding it adorable. It was like Pixie was incapable of staying still, even when she sat down, she would move her hands around or bounce her leg. "Oh, you're  _ that  _ confident? C'mon then baby, let's see what you got." He announced, grabbing Pixie's left hand on impulse and towed her down the aisle, as Tig tracked the darts stall he’d passed whilst searching for Pixie. Pixie’s hand felt tiny in his, she was fine-boned and petite, so his hand enveloped hers completely and Tig was hit with this sense of protectiveness over Pixie. It also hit him how perfectly their hands fit together, hers was just the right size for him to hold onto and a part of him didn’t want to let go again. Pixie was startled when Tig grabbed her hand, but that feeling was quickly replaced by a sense of safety, how he held it with such care, whilst also keeping it tightly in his. Tig took her down another row or stalls until he homed in on the red and white darts stall. They approached the vendor, a burly looking bald man with black tattoos snaking out of his blue short-sleeved shirt and denim shorts. Tig handed over the tickets he’d stowed in his kutte and the guy eyed him warily.

"Five darts each, each balloon pop is ten points." The vendor said in a gravelly voice as he passed a handful of darts to Pixie and she put them on the table in front of the stall where you had to throw from. Then she examined one of them, she frowned slightly.

"Hey, not to be pernickety or anythin’, but these darts are really light, also they're duller than the English sun. That's a bit dishonest of you, mate." Pixie chided causally, looking up at the vendor who crossed his arms. She didn’t sound mad or disappointed, just pointing out the obvious as she gave one to Tig to examine.

“What’s up?” Tig asked, intrigued to see what Pixie had picked up on with her sharp eyes.

"He's made it so that it's harder to hit the balloon if you throw it normally. Light darts aren't as accurate, and the dull point makes it harder to pop them even if you do hit the balloon." Pixie explained quickly, pointing out her observations on the dart Tig was holding. He was impressed that she'd picked up on it as quickly as she did, Pixie had obviously spent a lot of time around the dartboards, probably at her old clubhouse.

The darts vendor turned to glare at Pixie. "You're just making excuses in case you don't hit the targets, trying to get a refund, are you?" He accused grumpily, pointing a finger at her.

"Hey, you don't talk to her like that!" Tig growled defensively, stepping forwards guarding Pixie, his blue eyes flashing menacingly.

"I never said I wouldn't be able to hit them, just that it's a bit dishonest of you." Pixie clarified, attempting to diffuse the situation, realising that her no-filters attitude may have just got them in trouble. The darts vendor, not liking the look Tig was giving him, backed off and skulked to the corner of the booth, much to Pixie’s relief, as much as she loved a good fight, she wasn’t in the mood right now. She glanced up at Tig and gave him a soft smile, showing she was fine so Tig would relax. His shoulders slumped a little and he took a step back, gesturing for Pixie to go first.

“Let’s see what you got, baby.” Tig cheered, crossing his arms with a big grin. Pixie’s stomach did a little backflip over the pet name and she tried to refocus as she raised the dart in her hand. Pixie settled herself enough to concentrate and she moved it back and forwards in the air a couple of times, then grinned. Pixie threw the dart higher and with more force than Tig would have expected from her small stature, watching as it propelled forwards, quickly dropping, confirming it wasn't accurate, and then sunk into the balloon at the furthest point away from the base, where the plastic was stretched the most. The balloon popped as the tip of the dart went in, but not all the way, showing how dulled down the point was. Tig had to admit that the throw was damn impressive, all things considered, and he clapped Pixie on the shoulder and gave her an encouraging shake. "Way to go, doll! That was beautiful!" He cheered.

Pixie ducked her head and blushed slightly. "Still got four more to hit." She told him, so Tig let her go and watched as she did the same thing again, eventually managing to use all four darts to pop the balloons. He felt a huge beam spread across his face as Pixie did her little jump of excitement. "Yay! I got it!" She exclaimed cheerfully, Tig couldn’t help but go weak at the knees over the little victory jump and what Pixie said, he just found it so endearing. Tig grabbed her in a bear hug and held her close, she smelt like the pine shampoo they used at the clubhouse and strawberries, an unlikely combination but it smelt amazing to him, it was sweet and inviting and there was a hint of flowers there too.

"That was incredible, baby!" He told her excitedly, his eyes watching how when Pixie smiled, it was like her whole face lit up and it was just so infectious, in the best way possible.

"Thanks! It's your go, I want to see what you can do, tough guy." Pixie grinned, patting the front of his kutte just over his chest. She stepped back and watched as Tig squared up to the table and took his darts. There was something about Tig that Pixie found comforting. Every time she saw him, she just wanted to make him smile and cheer him up, and when she did get to see that big grin, butterflies erupted in her stomach. Tig looked at her over his shoulder to check Pixie was watching and she stuck her tongue out at him. Tig grinned and did the same, before turning back and throwing his first dart. It hit the balloon and popped with quite a force, showing Tig’s sheer strength. Pixie cheered and did a little jump which Tig caught from his periphery, causing him to feel a warmth in his chest. Tig nodded to himself then did the next three in rapid succession, two hit a balloon each and popped, the last just glanced off and landed somewhere inside the stall. Tig pretended to snap his fingers in annoyance and Pixie giggled at the goofy display, coming back to his side.

"That was good, Tig!" Pixie congratulated, patting his back. The vendor grumbled something and pulled a pink rabbit from a rack and handed it to Pixie begrudgingly.

"Thanks! Have a good evening." Pixie smiled at the vendor as she and Tig walked away from the stall. "Where to now, mate?" She asked, looking up at Tig as he wrapped an arm around her.

"Well, I think I owe you a milkshake. You hungry, doll?" Tig queried, watching Pixie as she clutched the fluffy pink rabbit against her chest, rubbing the white, yellow, and blue striped cotton insert on the rabbit’s inner ear absent-mindedly.

"Sure!" Pixie agreed eagerly, then paused and bit her lip. "Is that okay? What about the others?" She asked, realising that time was passing, and she didn’t want to take up Tig’s attention if he needed to focus on the club.

Tig pulled out his phone and checked for messages. “I wouldn't have placed the bet if it wasn't, doll. I've had no updates, and with Clay, no news is good news. So, don't worry, okay?” Tig assured her, stopping his walking so he could show Pixie his phone, free of texts or missed calls.

“Okay, if you’re sure.” Pixie agreed, relaxing against Tig’s side as he tightened his hold around her shoulders, seeing it that would make her feel safe and secure.

“Hundred percent. You okay driving in the dark? Not too tired?" Tig quizzed, well aware that Pixie was a Son, and a lethal one at that, but still feeling like he wanted to take care of her.

Pixie shook her head, touched that Tig was trying to look out for her, she felt like she wanted to do the same to him, so was glad it went both ways. "I'm very much awake, and the dark doesn't bother me, I lived in England after all." She assured him happily.

Tig chuckled as they started walking again, heading for the exit and their bikes. "Alright then, the Diner's local anyways, it's just outside of town." He informed her, very much looking forward to going there with Pixie.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ 

** I really like the developing relationship between Pixie and Tig. Let me know if you'd like to see more of that kind of thing! -Lulu ♥♥♥ **

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	18. Fun Town Episode: Chapter 3

**WARNING: Mention of blood.**

Tig and Pixie reached the diner pretty quickly riding down the winding roads together and Pixie was able to take in the rural California scenery as the sunset erupted over the distant hills, bathing everything in a glorious orange light. Pixie found she liked riding alongside Tig, he was so comfortable on his bike that it just looked like it was an extension of him. He manoeuvred it almost without conscious thought, occasionally glancing over to check Pixie was keeping up with him and giving a heads up when he was about to turn down a road. When they arrived, Pixie was met with a white single storey diner with a red LED sign reading ‘Priscilla’s Diner’ as they pulled into the parking lot and parked up. The lot was mainly vacant except for a couple of pickup trucks and a couple of people having a smoke in the far corner of the lot. As Pixie took her helmet off and put it on her seat, she got a text from Juice asking for a rain check on their shopping trip, so they rescheduled for the next day. Tig waited for her to answer and couldn’t help the smile that played on his lips as he thought about spending the rest of the evening with Pixie. The pair walked over to the three concrete steps leading to the diner’s entrance and Tig pulled the glass door open for her, eager to be a gentleman for the night. As Pixie entered, she was completely taken aback by the interior of the diner and paused to take it all in with a look of delight and wonder on her face. It was set out like a classic nineteen-fifties American diner, complete with red booths, walls, black and white checked flooring, and a chrome-edged bar. The red walls had music memorabilia dotted along it such as black records of rock and roll hits, photographs of US musicians and a few classic guitars which had been strung up as well. Pixie immediately fell in love with the place, it just had so much character and she could understand why this was Tig’s favourite diner too. She felt like she’d been transported to a movie set and it was just the break she needed from all the trouble and sadness in her mind.

"What do you think?" Tig asked, watching Pixie as she took in the surroundings with a captivated eye, looking so excited and Tig knew he’d made the right decision to take her here. His smile broadened as Pixie did a full turn around on the spot, absorbing it all.

"It's incredible! I thought places like this only exist in films." Pixie enthused, glancing up at the black chalkboard menus hung over the counter where the cash register and coffee machines were kept, reading the food specials written in brightly coloured chalk. Below the signs, a couple of employees in black, white and red uniforms served the customers at the bar with coffee and bustled in and out of the kitchen doorway where delicious smells were emanating and the sounds of a deep fryer in full sizzle were emanating from.

Tig chuckled and guided Pixie to his favourite booth in the back-right corner of the restaurant, which allowed them to have privacy and a quiet area to talk. Pixie sat down readily on the red leather bench seat on the left side of the booth and immediately pulled her legs up into a criss-cross position as Tig sat opposite her, plucking the menus off their stands on chrome table between them. He watched Pixie move into her sitting position as if it was muscle memory and that intrigued him, the way she sat reminded him of paintings of fairies sitting cross-legged on mushrooms and the thought made him smirk a little.

"Why do you always sit like that, doll?" Tig asked, curiously, taking advantage of the extra legroom and stretching his long legs out under the table, leaning back against his bench seat, spreading his arms across the top of it. Pixie had noticed this about Tig, you could tell when he was comfortable as he would take up as much space as he could, starfishing himself out happily. It reflected the confident and dominant air that Tig exuded and it drew Pixie into him.

Pixie shrugged shyly. "Dunno, guess it's a leftover habit from being a gymnast? Who knows?” She mused, smiling back at Tig, pleased to see he was so relaxed in this setting. There was no tension in his face anymore and Pixie realised he was letting her see the real him, not just the Sergeant-At-Arms, his walls were down and there were no pretences.

"You did gymnastics? Cute." Tig queried, tipping his head to one side to show his interest, happy to learn more about this curious woman before him. Pixie felt flattered that he was not only asking about her life, but genuinely wanted to know too.

"Mmhm, it's been years since I competed, but I can still do some tricks, and I'm pretty limber still, I do a lot of stretches to make sure I keep that as it’s useful for Sons stuff too." Pixie replied honestly, she was so used to talking about club things all the time, talking about personal topics like hobbies felt so foreign, but a relief.

“Oh yeah? Bet it’s good for that adrenaline junkie streak you got goin’ too.” Tig commented watching Pixie slowly unravel herself mentally, gingerly lowering her defences and allowing herself to relax. It was like watching a stray cat realise it’s safe in a new environment once you bring it home, and Tig wanted to encourage that as much as he could. After everything Pixie had been through, she deserved to feel safe in his eyes. He could see the sheer amount of grief and pain in Pixie’s though she was hiding it well.

Tig and Pixie chatted together, getting to know each other better, Pixie found out that Tig was a local to Charming and had grown up there, and Pixie told him about what it was like to grow up in Highton, living by the beach. Eventually, a grandmotherly looking waitress came over and took their orders and Tig ordered a root beer float for himself and a strawberry milkshake for Pixie, then a plate of sweet potato fries and burgers for them both.

The more Pixie talked to Tig, the more comfortable she felt, it was just safe and secure with Tig. She found she was able to open up and talk freely about memories of learning to surf with her old Sons friend Squid, going hunting for crabs with her childhood friends Nicky, Dukey and Piper, and riding her motorcycle along the beachfront with her prospect buddies. Tig was loving every moment of hearing all these precious little moments from Pixie, understanding more of her character and who she was at heart, underneath all the bravado and chaotic energy. He lapped up every detail that came his way, paying more attention to her than he did to most things. Tig talked about his prospect days at the club, how the dynamics had changed over time and some of the funny little moments he’d had over the years with the guys. As Tig took his turn to share, he played around with the big red and white laminated menus until he’d finished, then stood one up in front of him so he could peep over the top at Pixie and he crossed his eyes. Pixie giggled at his antics as he grabbed a napkin and bent his head down, so he was hidden behind his makeshift screen.

"Pay no attention to the wizard behind the curtain." Pixie joked with a laugh, trying to work out what Tig was up to. She leant in her elbows, subconsciously leaning towards him as comfort and attraction started to grow. Pixie heard a chuckle from Tig at her reference before he then lifted the menu up a little at the bottom so he could slide the napkin under it and towards Pixie like he was posting an envelope. She picked it up and blushed, her heart fluttering. Drawn on it in blue biro was a little flower, each petal was shaped like a little heart and underneath it, Tig had written ‘ _for the prettiest_ _girl in the world_ ’. She looked up at Tig who was peeping over the top of the menu again, his eyes hopeful. "Tig, this is so sweet! No one's ever told me that before." She confessed, hazel eyes glittering in the warm glow of the diner lights.

Tig's eyes widened and he put the menu down in shock, his lips parted in surprise. "You serious, doll?" He questioned. Pixie ducked her head and looked down at the table to hide the fact she was blushing, feeling vulnerable and shy. Tig leant across and gently put his hand under her chin so she'd look up at him again. His fingers were warm and rough against Pixie’s skin and the contact felt electric. "You’re _gorgeous,_ doll, and I will personally take down anyone that says you aren't." He vowed, his tone soft but serious, showing he meant what he said. Tig’s hand lingered against Pixie’s chin and she leant into the touch just a little. Tig noticed this and kept his hand there, falling for the soft caramel skin under his touch, she felt like satin.

Pixie smiled and took his hand, giving it a squeeze as she held It in both of hers, her small, nimble fingers dwarfed by his own. "Thanks, Tiggy. You're not so bad yourself, and I know you're Sergeant at Arms, so you can probably take care of yourself, but I got your back too." Pixie promised him too, trying to put her feelings into words without saying too much, trying to gauge where Tig was at with his feelings. Neither one of them wanted the touching to stop and Tig found he was at a loss for words, looking at Pixie’s hands against his own. She inspected the rings on his captured left hand, taking in the thick metal, most of them were square with gold around the edges and skull of various kinds in the centre of the ring with black behind them. _Perfect for throwing punches with an impact_ , Pixie mused. Tig observed her studying his rings and holding his hand, her fingers were laced under his palm and Pixie was gently rubbing her thumbs against the back of his hand and this little touch suddenly felt so much more intimate and special.

Tig beamed and leant forwards, leaning on the table with his free hand and making no move to take his hand away from Pixie’s touch, sensing that she might need it just as much as he wanted it. "That's comforting to know. You're a good fighter." He complimented, his voice had dropped down to a deep, quiet tone and Pixie’s heart and stomach fluttered at the rumbling tone. Tig used the opportunity to take in Pixie’s form up close, her biceps and forearms were muscular and defined, and he could see the strong tendons on the back of her hands working as she stroked his hand and didn’t doubt the power there. Although Pixie’s stature meant she was much smaller than the other Sons and didn’t have the bulging muscles that they did, Tig didn’t doubt that a hundred pounds of pure muscle and fury coming at you was going to send even the biggest of guys crashing to the floor, much like the way Pixie had dispatched Jax.

"Thanks.” Pixie blushed a little, the compliment again, beginning to feel warm and fuzzy, she took serious pride in her fighting capabilities, so to be told that someone like Tig approved of it was amazing for her. “It's gotten me into a lot of trouble before, though. Used to drive Bruce crazy." She reminisced with a little laugh.

"Oh yeah? What did ya’ do?" Tig queried, amused by Pixie’s comment, curling his fingers so they held Pixie’s against his palm, looking down at where their hands were joined, thinking about how he’d never really done this with another woman, just held their hand for the sake of holding their hand. Pixie’s voice was beyond attractive to him too. He loved her west Lancashire accent, which was so unique to her, especially in the middle of California. Her slang was growing on him too and the way she phrased things sometimes was sweet.

"I got into fights so often growing up. Usually, I was defending other kids who were getting teased or bullied, other times my chaotic streak got the better of me and I got carried away." Pixie revealed, thinking back on the multitude of scraps and fights she’d gotten into over the years, all the injuries she’d dealt and received and the aftermaths of Bruce’s exasperation and pride.

Tig chuckled, trying to image a child-version of Pixie, thinking about how small she must have been, yet held her own against other kids to protect ones she saw needing it. Tig connected with that desire to safeguard and it showed Pixie had a strong heart and iron-clad morals. "I see things haven't changed much then.” He teased, using his free hand to gesture to the bruising on Pixie’s knuckles from pounding into Jax. “Were you small as a kid too?" He added, interested.

"Oh yeah, smallest in my class all the way through school. Half the time the teachers never believed I'd started the fight. I got named 'Tiny Terror' by my other classmates." Pixie confessed amusedly, gently twisting one of Tig’s rings which had four skulls separated by an elongated cross.

"I like that. Small but mighty." Tig grinned, studying Pixie’s features and the way her hazel eyes would flick up to look at his face then dart over to around the diner and then back to their hands, like Pixie was off duty, but still looking for threats. Tig clicked with that too, he was always looking for threats every time he went anywhere, but he wanted Pixie to feel safe around him too. "I was always getting into fights too growing up, so I know how that goes." He told her, giving her a knowing smile as Pixie beamed back, her thumbs drawing overlapping circles on his hand.

“Oh yeah?” Pixie asked him, glad that he understood her and studying his face, his eyes were so sharp and blue they took her breath away and she admired his strong jawline and goatee.

“All the time. When I was grown’ up, there was a group of boys that used to think they owned the jungle gym in the playground at my old school. I didn’t like that and saw one of them push a kid off the top one time, she smacked her head on the ground and knocked out a tooth. I went up there and threw him off as well as all his little buddies, I must’ve been like seven or eight, but that was my jungle gym after that.” Tig told her, still sounding distinctly proud of his efforts. “I’d sit up there every recess and guard it and let the other kids use it apart from that group of boys.” Tig opened up, revealing a little nugget of his past to Pixie, that seemed to sum Tig up pretty well in Pixie’s eyes. Pixie and Tig talked more, exchanging stories from their pasts until the waitress came back with their orders and set them down on the table.

"Here we go, enjoy your meal, lovebirds." She told them warmly, giving Pixie a wink and walked off. Pixie pulled one end of the white paper wrapping off of the end of her straw, then blew through it at Tig, making the paper shoot into his side of the booth. Tig grinned and did the same with his straw, loving how playful Pixie was, and getting to hear that funny little giggle of hers was magic to Tig. It was childlike and playful, but so infectious.

"Is that ice cream?" Pixie quizzed, eyeing Tig's drink in confusion, she’d never seen a float before and couldn’t wrap her head around it.

Tig raised his eyebrows. "They don't have root beer floats in the UK?" He asked, feeling like Pixie was seriously missing out.

"Not that I'm aware of, what is it?" Pixie asked, wriggling in her seat a little, feeling excited.

"Here, try a bit." Tig slid his drink across to Pixie and she sipped a little through her straw before passing it back. The taste was unexpected, but somehow worked really well, and Pixie could understand why Tig seemed to really like it too.

"That's really good! The UK's definitely missing out." She told him before sliding her drink towards Tig. "You want a sip of mine? That way we're even." She offered with a hopeful smile. Tig thought Pixie was so sweet for wanting to do that, he couldn’t quite wrap his head around how she could be so gentle and sweet and yet do what she did to Jax in the ring, but that duality intrigued Tig and he had a desire to know more, discover what made Pixie tick.

He nodded and tasted a little of her drink too before they exchanged and dug into their meal. They chatted about anything that came into their minds, just being completely open and honest with each other, Pixie learnt more about what made Tig tick, he had a huge heart under the chaotic exterior and she wondered if he used the chaos as a way to protect himself as she did. The more they talked, the more they realised they had so much in common, but were different from each other too, which made it more interesting.

It was here that Tig came to the conclusion that the beautifully feisty woman sat opposite him in the booth was going to take his heart. In fact, he was almost certain that she'd had it the second he set eyes on her in the TM parking lot. It had been a long time since he'd fallen for someone this hard and it worried and fascinated him all at the same time.

Pixie looked up from her fries to see Tig watching her, completely mesmerised with a gentle smile on his face that she hadn't seen before. It was like he'd let down all his walls and she was seeing him for the first time. She took in his icy blue eyes again, captivated by them, along with his rugged looks and strong body and felt the butterflies flickering in her stomach intensify. Pixie had never felt this way about anyone before, and she wasn't sure what to do about it, but one thing she was sure about was that she was falling for Tig, hard and fast. He was funny and kind and protective and when she was with him, she didn't think about her traumas or her fears and worries, the rest of the world just melted away.

"What are you smiling about, tough guy?" She teased him shaking her head a little and smiling and giggling slightly, feeling as though she was in a spotlight, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable feeling.

Tig grabbed the menu and put it up on the table again, but this time making it so that it was blocking the view from the rest of the diner, a playful look on his face. He leant forwards and Pixie did the same, intrigued to see what Tig was doing now.

"There's a beautiful chick in the diner. She's got my eye; you think I should tell her?" Tig told her in a hushed voice; like he was sharing something top secret.

Pixie giggled at the goofy game Tig was playing, eager to play too, watching how Tig’s face lit up at her laugh.

"What does she look like?" She questioned, whispering back, trying to sound serious and failing. Up close like this, Tig’s icy blue eyes had so much depth to them, like looking at the sea and Pixie felt a sense of wonder as she stared into them.

"She's got raven hair, beautiful amber skin, hazel eyes, sharp features, ring any bells?" Tig murmured back with a charismatic grin, Pixie’s heart skipped a beat, overwhelmed by the compliments and flattery.

"I think she's been checking out a ruggedly hot biker the entire night." Pixie stage whispered back with a small giggle, continuing the game. Pixie saw Tig’s eyes widen slightly as she confirmed she too had romantic feelings for him, and she saw a million thoughts race across his face before they calmed.

"What’s he look like? I'll kill him." Tig growled, pretending to get mad and scowling, Pixie could see that his eyes were full of joy and this contradiction caused Pixie to laugh a little again.

"He's tall, has wild dark brown curls, stunning blue eyes, hot facial hair, ring any bells?" Pixie described, biting her lip slightly, waiting to see what Tig would do. this was Pixie’s first time confessing romantic feelings like this to anyone and she didn’t know how best to navigate the situation, causing nervousness to flare.

Tig's eyes lit up at her words and a warm smile spread across his face, joyful at the prospect that his attraction to Pixie was mutual. "You're playing with fire, baby." He growled gently, rubbing his chin slightly with his right index finger. Pixie wondered if this was Tig’s own nervousness coming to light, sensing he wasn’t used to being complimented.

"I like fire." Pixie quipped, voice quiet and ever so sultry. She then leant back and ate a couple more of her fries, watching Tig to see what he’d do next.

Tig put the menu down and leant back as well, he was quiet for a moment, just thinking hard, so Pixie gave him that time, allowing them both to settle into a comfortable silence for a moment before the playful conversation resumed, like something had clicked inside of Tig.

They finished their meals joking around with each other, Tig paid as promised and they headed outside, both of them reluctant to leave the little safe haven the diner provided, but also knowing they’d need to check in at the clubhouse and it was getting late. Tig held the door open for Pixie once more, and as she walked out onto the head of the steps, she caught sight of two drunk men in an all-out brawl next to where she'd parked her bike with Tig's in the first row of car park spaces. They were shouting and groaning at each other, slurring their words and their punches were sloppy, to say the least.

"Don't care what you're fighting about, but back away from our bikes before you knock ‘em over." Pixie called out to them, leaning over the red metal railings of the top step. The men turned to her, angered that someone had dared interrupt their drunken feud and uniting, stalking forwards towards the steps, aggressive looks on their faces and already bloody from their drunken battle. One was tall and muscular with black shoulder-length hair and green eyes. His counterpart was a little lankier with a long mop of blonde hair, deep-set brown eyes and a scraggly beard.

"Stay outta this, bitch." The black-haired man growled, his words bouncing into each other as he and the blonde reached the stairs coming up to the side of them. He then spat at Pixie before she or Tig had time to react, and it landed on her left purple Doc Marten boot. Pixie slowly looked down at it and then looked back up at him, raising an eyebrow before darting forwards to lean over the railings again, grabbing a fistful of each man's hair at the back of their heads and smacked them both together as hard as she could. Their foreheads collided with a hard smack and Pixie let go as they staggered back, trying to keep themselves upright. Tig launched himself over the railings, too angry for the stairs and was on them in a flash, knocking them both on their asses with two fast headshots that they definitely weren’t going to recover easily from.

"You don't talk to her like that! Stay the hell away from our bikes!" Tig hissed out a warning, towering over the two men on the floor, his voice low and deadly and his blue eyes aglow. Pixie came to his side quickly as the black-haired man got up and swung at Tig. Pixie got in front and smacked his forearm away with a fierce punch, then delivered a second to the man's gut. He went down again wheezing and coughing, flopping to the floor like a fish out of water. The blonde seemed to be the less aggressive of the two drunk men as looked from Pixie to Tig and back again, before scrambling up off of the floor and took off at a drunken run tripping on his own feet as he went.

"I suggest you do the same as your buddy and scram, you're messing with the wrong bitch." Pixie warned, her hazel eyes locked on to the black-haired man with deadly precision and a promise of violence if he didn’t comply.

Either the man had a death-wish or was too drunk to care, but either way, he staggered forwards, fists raised. "Fuck you!" He hollered at Pixie, spittle flying from his mouth in fury.

"You need to learn some manners." Tig growled, he punched him hard enough to knock a tooth out and the guy staggered back, but didn’t go down, spitting out his tooth and blood. The guy took a swing for Pixie and she ducked then delivered a brutal left uppercut to his chin, bowling him over backwards as he lost his balance and Pixie pounced, raining punch after punch. The guy went foetal position trying to hide from the small but powerful blows until Pixie was sure he wasn’t going to get up and threaten Tig or her again. She then backed up and spat on him, returning the favour whilst Tig watched on.

"Run. Away." Pixie growled and this time the guy took the hint and staggered off at a hasty pace. She closed her eyes and focused on lowering her desire to kill and her breathing. When she managed that, she opened her eyes and turned to look at Tig. "You good?" She asked him, slightly sheepishly, realising she may have gone overboard just a little.

"Oh yeah.” Tig grinned widely, shaking out his hands as Pixie stretched her fingers out too. “ You don't even realise how hot that was." He confessed, spellbound by Pixie as she blushed and giggled, flexing her hands. They hurt, but she hadn't done too much damage.

"Should we get out of here before more drunk guys try to take us on?" Pixie suggested as Tig put his arm around her shoulders, he was smiling madly like he’d just thoroughly enjoyed himself and he couldn’t take his blue eyes off of Pixie. To him, seeing how Pixie had defended him and knocked the guy onto his ass was beautiful.

"Sure, doll. You okay?" Tig chuckled as they started to walk to their bikes, stooping his head a little so he could see Pixie’s face better and also get a chance to inhale her sweet strawberry scent.

"Of course, nothing like a little scuffle to round off the day." Pixie joked as she put her pink helmet on, giving Tig a cheeky smile.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Tig grinned, doing the same as his bike roared to life and Pixie revved hers. They switched their headlights on and drove out of the lot together, high on adrenaline and the budding feelings they had for each other.

☠️☠️☠️

The ride back was fun for Pixie, she got a chance to see the Californian night sky with the moon hanging high above them like a beacon of phosphorescent light with a million more little headlights in the sky. The night sky always settled Pixie’s nerves and made her feel secure and she often found she searched for Orion’s Belt whenever she had the chance as it helped to focus her mind. Riding with Tig made the night even better, the pair of them riding relatively slow just being content with each other’s company and feeling no need to rush. Pixie took in the way Tig ride, his strong legs wide apart, back straight and hands expertly manoeuvring his bike. He was one with his Harley and radiated power as he ploughed down the road beside her. She saw he would glance her way, making sure she was right beside him, smile playing on his lips. Tig couldn’t see Pixie’s face under her full helmet and visor but took in the relaxed nature of Pixie’s body. Her bike reflected her, streamlined, small, and speedy and Tig loved that. Getting used to Pixie’s body language at the diner allowed him to see the subtle signs she was happy for the first time in a while. Her fingers tapped the handlebars idly and stroked the rubber grips, like a song was playing in her mind and he wondered which one it could be.

At last, they reached the road to the clubhouse and Pixie revved her bike, overtaking Tig and pulled her bike into a wheelie, her riding reflecting the high she was experiencing, enamoured by Tig, and enjoying his company. She wasn’t thinking about all the horrors she’d escaped from or the stress of moving county, right now she just felt free. Tig grinned watching Pixie’s little stunt and accelerated, catching up to her as she put her bike's front wheel down and the two of them raced into the lot. Tig was feeling the same thing as Pixie; with her, it didn’t feel like he had to hide anything, those inquisitive little hazel eyes caught every part of him, and she accepted it with open arms. He’d never fully experienced that before and as much as it thrilled him, a part of him was nervous too. They parked up and Pixie got off her bike first whilst Tig checked his phone for any messages or missed calls. He noticed Pixie was favouring her left side as she took a couple of steps away from her bike to yawn and stretch in more space, back arching like a little cat as she eased her muscles.

"You hurt your leg, baby doll?" Tig questioned, feeling concerned as he got off his bike immediately, coming to Pixie’s side, blue eyes looking her over in worry. Pixie looked up and bit her lip, _a nervous habit_ Tig decided. He stood in front of her, taking her hands in his. "What is it, darlin'? You can tell me anything." He urged, voice gentler, studying how Pixie’s face looked so pensive all of a sudden, and the way she was leaning heavily on her left leg, not even putting weight on her right now and using his hands for support.

Pixie debated about what to do, knowing Tig was really worried for her, she could see it on his face and the way he was clutching her hands, so gently like she was made of glass. Pixie thought about how much of her he’d accepted already and decided he was bound to find out eventually like Juice, so maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if Tig knew too. She nodded and reached for her right trouser leg, pulling it up past her knee.

Tig looked down, the sharp beam from the security light meant he could clearly see purple plastic, it took him a second to realise what he was seeing, then it clicked. "You're an amputee?" He asked softly, keeping his voice neutral so he didn’t upset Pixie whilst he processed this new information, seeing where she was at with the whole situation.

Pixie nodded again, her face shy and vulnerable. "It's just my lower right leg below the knee and foot that's gone, thankfully. My stump starts to hurt in the evenings when it gets colder and I've been standing and walking most of the day." She explained to him. From how she spoke about it, it sounded like something she was really comfortable with, like she’d spent years with it and now it was just second nature.

"Do the others know, doll?" Tig queried whilst Pixie pulled her trouser leg up a little more to show Tig more. He knelt down to get a better look, wanting to understand better to see how he could best help Pixie. Her knee was partially covered by the bandage and socket and the skin there looked reddened and sore. In his eyes, this didn’t mean anything different, Pixie was still Pixie to him, just with something else that he perceived as showing her strength. She was able to keep going after so much loss and he admired that.

"Just Juice, I've been trying to find a good time to tell them, I didn't want it coming out until they'd seen me ride and fight first. I don't want anyone to use it as an excuse to not let me be a Son, this is my whole life and I’d be lost without my kutte. I need to be patched in here so I can stay safe, if Charming doesn’t accept me, no other charter will, and then I’d be fucked." Pixie described gravely as Tig stood up again and Pixie pulled her trouser leg down. He put his left hand out for her again so he could bear some of her weight she was gingerly trying to take off of her right leg. “I’m usually pretty open about it, I’ve lived with it since I was fourteen, but this is under different circumstances.” She added, feeling a sense of relief at being able to explain this to Tig, it was one less worry to carry.

"Well, if anyone says you aren't worthy, I'll knock some sense into them. You're incredible." Tig told her fiercely, stepping closer to Pixie and gently putting his free hand on the side of her face so he could get her to look up at him. “You’re a fuckin’ good Son, and you’re safe here, your leg doesn’t change shit to me.” Tig continued, his voice soft and low as he tried to communicate how he was feeling and how much he wanted Pixie to feel safe and comfortable around him.

Pixie smiled, feeling consoled, seeing the truth in Tig’s eyes, and how accepting he was. Her right hand went up to touch the back of his hand as he gently lowered it from Pixie’s face, so they ended up holding each other’s hands. "Thanks, mate, that really means a lot to me. It’s really great to know I have you on my side. You're a good guy, Tiggy." Pixie replied, putting emphasis into her words to show how much Tig reaching out and spending time with her today really meant.

Tig just shrugged, not used to receiving compliments or the intensity of the feelings he was having for Pixie. "Let's get you inside, doll, you look exhausted.” He told her instead, focusing on how much Pixie had been through to get to Charming and the fact that her bouncing had stopped. As if on cue, a huge yawn overtook Pixie taking her by surprise. Tig laughed, thinking about how cute he found her, and turned around, stooping down a little. "Hop on, princess, let's not make your leg hurt any more than it is." He instructed, looking over his shoulder at Pixie. She giggled at his playfulness and jumped on his back, Tig grabbed her legs, supporting them and Pixie wrapped her arms loosely around his neck, resting her chin on his right shoulder, feeling his brown curls against her cheek and how soft they were. Tig did a little jump and Pixie laughed holding on tighter as Tig did a little spin, wanting to hear more of her funny little laugh again. Pixie’s giggle was music to Tig’s ears, it was so happy and infectious.

“You’re a real daftie, Tiggy.” Pixie told him when Tig stopped jumping around so he could laugh without losing his balance. Pixie’s arms around his shoulders felt amazing to him and he didn’t miss the way Pixie’s right hand had found its way under his kutte, gently stroking his t-shirt right over his heart.

He hiked Pixie up a little more on his back from where she’d slipped whilst he was teasing her and realised that he could easily support her with just his arms. "Geez baby, you're as light as a feather." Tig chuckled as he began walking towards the clubhouse.

“I’m secretly a crow.” Pixie joked in a stage whisper, putting her nose against his ear as she spoke, the pair of them revelling in the fact that they could touch each other. As she put her head on his shoulder again, snuggling against Tig, she gently inhaled. Without anything to distract her, she abruptly realised that Tig smelled of pine, motor oil and spicy aftershave, it was just like the hoodie she'd been using to calm herself down at night. It had to be his, and Pixie smiled to herself and hugged him a little tighter. Tig felt her do this and just thought about how valued he suddenly felt, in this moment he was Pixie’s rock, keeping her safe and sound against him. Tig ascertained that he wanted to be there for Pixie to experience this more vulnerable side to her and that thought baffled him. They reached the door and Tig pushed it open with his left boot, walking in with Pixie tucked onto his back like a koala.

Chibs, Jax and Juice were sitting around inside on the couches, drinking beer and playing cards and they looked up from what they were doing as Tig and Pixie came in, intrigued to see them back still together and how Tig was carrying Pixie with such care. Both of them had such an easy smile on their faces and were holding each other affectionately.

"What did you two get up to this evening?" Jax asked, turning to look over the back of the plaid couch, taking in how at ease Tig looked.

"Beat Tig at darts at the fair, then we went out to a diner coz he lost the bet. It was really fun, we had burgers and I found out what a root beer float is." Pixie informed him, grinning joyously and glancing at Tig for a moment, he looked back at her and the two exchanged a soft smile.

"We had a bit of a brawl with two drunk bastards who decided to take this one on." Tig chuckled gesturing to Pixie by tipping his head towards hers and gesturing to Pixie’s pinkened knuckles resting against his chest.

"Sounds like a good night then." Jax nodded, unsurprised at the fact that there had been a fight, they were Sons after all.

"How many pieces did ye leave tha' bastards in?" Chibs questioned, pleased to see Pixie looking so content, as well as how blissful Tig appeared. There was none of his usual bravado, his walls were down, and it was like looking at a wild wolf now curled up against someone he trusted.

"They got away pretty unscathed. We were just trying to get them to back off us and get them away from our bikes before they pushed them over. Tig knocked a tooth out of one of the guys though." Pixie informed him with a beam, thinking about how Tig had jumped to her defence, her knight on a shining Harley.

"Hey, he spat at you, I wasn't gonna let that lie." Tig growled, his grip on Pixie’s thighs tightening just a little in a protective manner.

"Surprised you didn't gut him." Juice responded, raising his eyebrows, and trying to think if he’d seen Tig like this with another woman before. So gentle and caring, which was not the Tig Trager Juice was used to.

"The thought crossed my mind, but I didn't want to get Pixie in trouble." Tig reasoned, half-joking, he looked at Pixie again and caught the sleepy look in her eyes. "Anyways, Pixie's beat so I'm gonna drop her off in her room." He told the guys, half-turning away.

"Night, guys." Pixie chirped as Tig carried her down the corridor. Tig opened her door and flicked the light on, then stooped so Pixie could get off. She limped over to the bed and sat down as he shut her door.

"You okay, doll?" Tig asked, wanting to help Pixie more, it made him feel wildly uncomfortable that she was experiencing pain and he wanted to do something to ease it, he just didn’t know what. He was also having an internal crisis as he was experiencing feelings and desires that he’d never had with anyone before. He was having romantic feelings for Pixie, but not just physically like with another woman. Tig wanted to take care of her, he wanted to hold her and talk to her and be there in ways that were foreign to him. Every relationship he’d had before, he’d felt feelings of lust and want, a need to not be lonely, but _this_? This was all new, and it freaked him out as much as it enthralled him.

"Yeah, thanks, Tiggy." Pixie assured him as she started undoing her boot laces on her purple Doc Martens. Tig came to her side and bent down, helping her out of them, then took her kutte and put it on the door for her. Pixie was feeling overwhelmed by this herself, she prided herself on being independent and self-sufficient and wasn’t used to other people taking care of her like Tig was. She also had a tidal wave of emotions brewing inside of her. After losing everyone in Highton, she was scared to let someone in again, unsure of if she could survive another death of a loved one or any other loss. Pixie also found she wasn’t willing to turn away from Tig either, she wanted to try, to reach out and to explore this new connection. She couldn’t live in fear, that was what Jimmy O’Phelan wanted, and she refused to let him rule her life.

Tig caught Pixie in deep thought and decided to pull back her duvet a little so it should be easier for her to get in when she was ready. He noticed there was a bundle of clothes there and picked them up. "These your pyjamas?" He asked, laying them out for her as Pixie nodded. She reached for the hoodie and held it close like a security blanket, shaking away the painful, terrifying memories creeping in. She refocused, smiling up at Tig as he stood over her shifting slightly like he wanted to do more, he just didn’t know what.

"Yeah, I'll go change and get ready for bed. Thanks for making today fun, Tiggy, I really, _really_ like hanging out with you." Pixie told him sincerely, watching the way Tig puffed out his chest a little at the compliment and ducked his head.

"No worries, angel, you made it fun for me too.” Tig told her truthfully, already thinking of what else he wanted to do with Pixie, places to visit and locations she might like. He watched how Pixie soothed herself with the hoodie, holding it against her chest and fiddling with one of the drawstrings on the hood. “Hey, who's hoodie is that?" Tig asked her intrigued to see Pixie had connected with it so strongly and glad that Pixie was able to take comfort in something. Pixie blushed a little and looked down at the bed bashfully, so Tig reached for it and Pixie stood up giggling, ducking out of his reach.

"It's a secret." She teased him with a cheeky smile. Tig made a grab for it again and Pixie dodged him a second time, causing Tig to chuckle as he watched her move, realising she was mainly hopping on her left foot, keeping balance easily. He wanted her to settle and rest her leg, but also didn’t want to leave just yet, liking how playful Pixie was being. Tig grinned and grabbed her waist, gently picking Pixie up and throwing her on the bed, Pixie laughed and rolled as Tig sat down on the bed and they wrestled for the hoodie. Tig couldn’t help but laugh at Pixie’s giggles as she pretended to fight him off but loving the fact that he was playing with her, as did he. They rolled around on the bed, teasing and play-fighting until Tig finally managed to get the hoodie off of Pixie. He put a hand on Pixie’s stomach to keep her down and checked the label as Pixie lay on her back, her hands around his forearm, still giggling. A huge smile appeared on Tig’s face as he found what he was looking for and showed it to Pixie. She saw someone, presumably, Tig, had written his nickname in sharpie on the care label, something she hadn't spotted before.

"I wondered where this went, little thief." He told her playfully, helping Pixie as she wriggled and sat up, loving the feeling of Pixie's fingers against his arm.

Pixie blushed and stuck her tongue out at Tig. She knew Tig wasn’t mad about it in the slightest, in fact, he looked really pleased, but there was still a little bite of self-consciousness that drove Pixie to explain herself. "It helps me sleep at night. I didn't know it was yours until now, goofy." She confessed, gazing up at Tig with her big hazel eyes and Tig’s heart melted.

He gave the hoodie back, tucking it on Pixie’s lap and gently kissed the top of her head. "I'm glad it helps you. Keep it, doll. After the shit you went through, you need a little comfort, and I’m glad my hoodie can do that for you." He told her softly, mulling over what Pixie had told the Sons. That her charter had all been killed by the IRA and Pixie barely escaped with her life. He couldn’t imagine the pain Pixie must be feeling inside as he tried to imagine how he’d feel seeing the Charming clubhouse in flames and knowing his brothers were gone.

"Thanks, Tiggy. If you really wanna know, it's more to do with your scent more than anything. Is that weird?" Pixie bit her lip. “You smell good, comforting.” She elaborated; her voice low with anxiety and leant a little against his shoulder.

Tig's heart softened even more. She looked so vulnerable as she tucked herself to him and he put an arm around her, taking note of how perfectly she fit against him. "No way, angel. If anything, I find that adorable." He confessed to her, wrapping his other arm around Pixie too and holding her close for a couple of seconds. Pixie tucked her head under his chin and Tig snuggled her closer, happy he was providing her with support and comfort, a new concept to Tig altogether, but one he was celebrating, nonetheless. He smiled to himself, then let her go reluctantly. "You better get some sleep, it's late already." He decided though he sounded like he didn’t want to leave Pixie.

Pixie nodded, just as hesitant. "Drive safe, Tiggy, I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" She asked him hopefully, beaming up at Tig, taking in his features, his prominent nose, strong jaw, enchanting eyes. His face was something Pixie found so wonderful, how Tig never seemed to hide his emotions, instead, they were always out on display, he was a live wire and chaotic, but so was Pixie and she took great solace in.

"Yeah. Sleep well, Pixie." Tig told her quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. When Pixie looked at him like she was doing now, Tig felt exposed, like she was seeing through every wall, barricade, and door he’d put up to protect himself, she was seeing him, every part of him. He stood up from the bed with one last stroke to Pixie’s raven curls before heading for the door. He gave Pixie one last smile as she gave him a little goodbye wave. Once Tig shut the door behind him, Pixie flopped backwards on her bed and grinned up at the ceiling, butterflies in her stomach and her heart beating lively in her chest. She let out a small delighted squeal over the events of that night and allowed herself to feel excited. After a moment, there was a knock at the door, and she lifted her head up to see Juice peep round it, friendly smile on his face, though his brown eyes looked thoughtful.

"Hey, mate. You okay?" Pixie greeted, grinning at Juice and patting the bed next to her, wanting to spend time with him too and see what was going on with her new best friend.

"Yeah just came to check on you. Sorry that the club business got in the way of our shopping trip." Juice explained, flopping down next to her on the bed, putting his arms above his head like Pixie as they both gazed up at the wooden ceiling. He looked tired but relatively relaxed, which settled Pixie’s concerns for him.

"That's okay, how did it go?" Pixie asked him, finding Juice’s hand, and linking her fingers with his.

"Pretty smoothly. Clay seems happy." Juice told her carefully, Pixie knew there was more information than that, but let it go, reminding herself she trusted Juice and vice versa.

"That's good then." She replied instead, turning her head to look at Juice as he did the same thing, they smiled at each other on instinct, a reaction to seeing someone they valued highly.

"So, you and Tig, huh?" Juice asked after a moment, Juice observed Pixie’s face, she was so content and that pleased Juice to see, Pixie deserved to feel safe.

"What about us?" Pixie responded, wanting to see what Juice’s angle was and where his thoughts were at with it all.

"You like him?" Juice questioned, watching Pixie analyse him, much in the same way he found Chibs doing it to him on occasions.

Pixie carried on studying Juice, anxiously. "I don't know, maybe? I've never liked someone in that way before." She confessed, she wanted to know what Juice thought, he was her first proper friend here and she wanted his approval.

"Tig's head over heels for you. I've known that guy for a while, but I've never seen him as taken with someone as he is with you." Juice told her truthfully, easing Pixie’s nervousness a little, seeing the pleased smile on her face at his observation.

"He's really sweet and I feel safe with him, we talked pretty much all night." Pixie described, shuffling closer to Juice so he would put his arm around her. Juice got the hint, glad to hug Pixie as he got comfort from it just as much as she did. Pixie rested her head on Juice’s chest and breathed in his lemon fresh scent.

"Good, you deserve to feel safe and happy, Pixie. Just be cautious, Tig is a lot of things, and he has a good heart for definite, but he’s also wildly anarchic and doesn't think sometimes, he’s more of a punch first ask later kinda guy. There’s also some rumours about him, and his reputation is gnarly." Juice warned, worried about the possibility of Pixie getting hurt, stroking Pixie’s hair.

"We all have our demons, Juice, it's a part of being a Son. I think most of the rumours Tig may have started in order to protect himself and to keep people at bay. We all put up fronts and keep people away, same way you protect your soft, loving heart by trying to look like a brute, when we all know you're just a big playful puppy on the inside." Pixie joked, making light of the conversation and poking Juice’s taught stomach.

Juice shoved her gently back. "Hey!” He laughed before pulling Pixie back to him. “I get what you're saying though. Whatever happens with it, I trust your judgement and I'll stand by you, I’ll also be there to protect you, it’s been a long, long time since I’ve had a friend like this, and I don’t want to lose it." He confessed. Pixie tipped her head up and looked into Juice’s brown eyes reminding her of a sad puppy and she cuddled him tighter, wishing she could take his pain away.

"Thanks, Juice. You're the best honestly. I thought I would never have friends again after… _after_ what happened, but you stepped in and pulled me to safety." Pixie confessed gratefully, her words soothing to Juice, confirming Pixie felt the strong connection he did. He liked being there for someone. Pixie then yawned and caused him to do the same, so Juice took that as a sign that Pixie really needed her sleep, so he gently unravelled himself from her and stood up, stretching.

"I'm gonna head out then, you alright for tonight?" He asked her, glad that he’d got to check in with Pixie before he left for the night and hoped that they’d get to spend more time with each other the next day.

"I'm good, Juice, go get some rest, you need it too, drive safe, okay?" Pixie told him, smiling up from where she lay on the bed, concern and care clear in her voice.

"Will do, good night, Pixie." Juice grinned, shutting the door behind him, touched that Pixie was looking out for him as well.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

** What do you think about the emerging relationship between Tig and Pixie? Let me know your thoughts! -Lulu ♥♥♥ **

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	19. Fun Town Episode: Chapter 4

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** WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER CONTAINS MENTIONS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT.  **

Nightmares plagued Pixie constantly through the night, flashbacks of the Highton massacre, of escaping and finding Squid and Cupcake, and of earlier traumas too. Pixie slept restlessly and when she finally awoke with the first rays of sunshine slicing through the blinds, her pillow was damp with tears again, and Pixie felt like she'd barely slept at all. She sat up and realised that at some point during the night, she'd grabbed the pink bunny she won at the fair and it was nestled next to her in the blankets, Pixie was used to having a plush in her bed, she'd always slept with a green Care Bear at home in Highton since being a baby, so it felt comforting for her to have one now, especially when she was feeling so emotionally vulnerable. She hugged it close one last time, taking consolation in the candyfloss fur before taking a deep breath and getting ready for the day. She washed and dressed quickly in a blue Samcro t-shirt that came down to her thighs, a pair of baggy denim jeans, and her purple Doc Martens. Her right leg stump was a little stiff but manageable, so Pixie stretched and did her morning exercises before wandering out to see what was going on today in the world of the Charming Sons. Pixie realised she was running earlier than usual when she saw only Chibs was sat at the bar with a small notebook, scribbling away with his glasses on the end of his nose and he had a paper bag next to him on the counter. Pixie took a second to take in his form, his shaggy salt and pepper hair framed his face and made him look a little unruly and wild, which Pixie liked, as she could sense under the calm exterior, he was lively and strong like a thunderstorm. He had his brown leather jacket on underneath his kutte, and a black t-shirt underneath that. Brown wooden beads hung around his neck and Pixie caught a set around his right wrist peeking out the cuff as he wrote quickly across the page. He had black fitted jeans on and worn black work boots with silver eyelets and black laces. The overall look was nothing out of the ordinary for the Sons and yet Chibs had made it unique to him with the small additions of browns and earthy tones that denoted he probably liked nature when he wasn’t up to his elbows in engine grease in the garage or hurtling down highways on his Harley. He looked up when he heard her footsteps and a big smile appeared on his face showing straight white teeth. Pixie smiled too in return and she caught Chibs’ brown eyes softening.

"Mornin', lass, ye sleep okay?" Chibs greeted, taking in Pixie's slightly pensive eyes and hunched shoulders. She had the appearance of looking relaxed from the way she walked, and unless you knew her body language well like how Chibs had been learning, you'd think she was doing okay.

"Yeah, pretty well, you?" Pixie immediately deflected the attention off of her, going straight to behind the bar to get the drinks ready for when the other Sons arrived.

Chibs let Pixie do her thing, watching her settle into her task and keeping an eye on her, trying to figure out what had made her go back into her shell a little more than the day prior. "Aye, got somethin’ fer ye." Chibs responded eyes trained on the young woman, taking in her movements and the tiredness in her eyes. Pixie paused to look up at him, completely surprised that Chibs had done something for her. He picked up the paper bag next to him and passed it over, Pixie opened the bag up and grinned when she saw the contents. Chibs saw the way she reacted and wondered how often the Highton Sons did things for Pixie or whether she had always done things for them and for herself, expecting nothing in return.

"Now that's a good tea blend. Where'd you find it?" Pixie enthused, examining the Earl Grey tea box, glad to see something familiar in a world of change. She looked up at Chibs again and he was relieved to see her a little more relaxed, her eyes a little less haunted.

"Let's just say an old friend passed it over." Chibs informed her, keeping his tone light, not wanting to reveal who he actually got it from. Pixie sensed this and narrowed her eyes slightly but decided not to address it. "Get it ready then, lassie, we can have some before tha’ others start demandin’ their coffee." Chibs instructed, getting Pixie to keep moving and stop analysing him. Pixie nodded and set to work, feeling her anxieties ease around Chibs, even though he was clearly hiding stuff from her, she understood it was just Sons code and nothing personal. He was clearly trying to look out for her too, and that warmed Pixie’s heart. She couldn't describe what it was exactly, but around Chibs, she just felt safe and secure. She had from the moment she met him, but the reason why escaped her. Pixie cleaned the bar a little whilst she waited for the water to boil, unable to stay fully still and retreated back into her mind, trying to organise the turbulent thoughts going on in there. Chibs let her and a comfortable silence was passed between them as Chibs finished whatever it was he was writing in his book and kept an eye on Pixie. When the kettle was ready, she made the drinks and passed one over to Chibs, eager to finally get a good cup of tea again.

"You want the bag in?" Pixie asked, gesturing to where the string was dangling over the edge of the black SOA mug, she put down in front of Chibs.

"Aye, you gotta have a strong tea to start the day off with." Chibs replied seriously, then cracked a goofy grin, which Pixie found herself mirroring. She watched him as Chibs picked up his black pen again began racing it across the page in cursive writing, captivating Pixie as she wondered how he was able to write so speedily. Chibs glanced up again and caught her fascinated eye, head tipped to one side and fingers playing with the zip on her kutte as she leant against the bar opposite him. "I like writin’ down ma thoughts. If I don't, ma head gets all crowded an' noisy, an' I get grumpy." Chibs revealed as he finished his sentence in his book, reaching out and tapping the tip of Pixie’s nose with the top of his pen before he setting it down in the spine of the book and closed it so he wouldn't lose his place. Pixie's face broke out into a mischievous expression that reminded Chibs forcibly of a fairy or a real-life little pixie.

"That's a good idea, though not sure if it helps with your grumpiness." Pixie teased him, confirming Chibs' assessment was ringing true, Pixie was now feeling comfortable enough to play around with Chibs again.

"Oi, don't ye start with me, lass." Chibs warned her playfully, tipping his head towards her as he took a swig of his tea and cleared his throat.

“See.” Pixie giggled, taking a sip, and then inching her hand across the bar top in an attempt to peek at the book Chibs had been writing in. He batted her hand away playfully.

"I need to talk ta ye about what happened last night." Chibs decided to change the subject now Pixie was calmer, to the reason that had brought him to the clubhouse so early.

Pixie raised an eyebrow, and Chibs could see her visibly retracting into her shell again, barricades returning, and he swore internally. "Which part?" She asked him, her voice causal, though her eyes were calculating.

Chibs shook his head, he could tell she knew exactly what he was referencing but wasn’t going to give him an inch. "Don't ye act like a daftie. Ye and Tig." Chibs clarified calmly.

"What about us?" Pixie asked him again, refusing to reveal anything until she knew what angle Chibs was coming from. She straightened up from the bar and picked up a dish rag, cleaning down the already clean workstation.

"Ye spent tha' entire evenin' out with him." Chibs pointed out, resting his forearms on the bar top and leaning her way a little.

"So?" Pixie queried, giving Chibs nothing to work with as she stopped sweeping imaginary crumbs and stirred her tea, keeping her body language neutral. Although Pixie was starting to trust Chibs, after her nightmare fest and waking up feeling anxious, Pixie couldn't help but guard herself as a means of protection, unsure of what Chibs wanted to know.

Chibs sighed. "I can see why Bruce used to cuff ye round tha back o’ tha head. Gettin' information out of yer' is harder than chisellin' rock when ye don’t want ta talk about somethin’." Chibs grumbled before he took a breath, his comment causing Pixie to smile a little. "I'm not askin' ta be nosy, I'm askin' ta make sure yer stayin' safe. I want ta look out fer ye an' help ye where I can, lass." Chibs stated gently, looking into Pixie's hazel eyes so she could see he had no ulterior motives, just care for Pixie. " _So_ , wha' happened with ye and Tig last night?" Chibs asked again, softening his voice so Pixie wouldn't feel like she was being interrogated, but more like this was a supportive conversation.

Pixie nodded, deciding to give in as Chibs was just looking out for her, and right now, she needed his support. She also really wanted to have a hug off of him, especially after the night of horrific nightmares, and she knew to get to that point, she needed to be open and honest with Chibs. "Okay. We played around at the carnival, did a darts game, and won the pink bunny, then went to the diner, like I said last night. It was really fun, honestly and Tig was nothing but protective and caring the entire night. We talked for ages at the diner, sharing memories and getting to know each other more, he was really invested in finding out more about me. Then we had the scuffle with the drunks, punches got thrown and we saw them off and came home. Nothing R-rated happened, I promise." She elaborated, linking her pinkie finger with Chibs' so he knew she was telling the truth.

Chibs raised his eyebrows, looking at Pixie seriously, a sense of wonderment about him. "Are we talkin' abou' tha same bastard here?" Chibs questioned slowly as he took another mouthful of tea and processed the fact that Pixie had just called Tig Trager a ‘gentleman’. "He must really feckin' like ye." He added after a moment, thinking about how Tig had been behaving around Pixie, completely spellbound and soft. Nothing close to the wild, ferocious, and raunchy man Chibs had come to call his brother.

"Is it that obvious?" Pixie asked, smiling, and blushing just a little as she hid her face from Chibs, moving things around on the workstation at the bar as she calmed herself again.

"All ye have ta do is walk inta tha room and he's droolin'." Chibs confirmed with a slight chuckle, thinking about his old wild friend that he liked to liken to a feral wolf, suddenly became a tame Labrador around Pixie. "I want ye ta be careful though, lass. I know ye can take care of yerself, but I've known Tig fer over a decade and he's definitely had his psycho moments. I would hate ta see ye get hurt in the fallout of one of those. Tig's also extremely caring and has a lot of love under all tha' wild craziness, so I'm not trying ta discourage ye, just warning ye is all." Chibs confided, his brown eyes conveying how much care he'd developed for Pixie and the need to protect her, which warmed Pixie's soul.

Pixie reached for Chibs' hand and gave it a squeeze, it was warm and calloused against her skin and Pixie felt that sense of safety and security that she got from Chibs come back in force. "Thanks, Chibbie, I had a similar talk with Juice last night, he kinda went big bro on me. It feels really good that I have both of you in my corner though. Especially with... _everything_." Pixie described honestly, her voice wavered on the last word and for a second Chibs could see all the pain and terror lance across her eyes before it was gone again under all her armour.

"C'mere ye sweet bonnie." Chibs crooned softly, beckoning her round the bar and turning in his seat. Pixie didn't hesitate, coming straight over to Chibs. He got down from his seat and enveloped her in a warm hug, putting his right hand on the back of Pixie's head, just stroking her hair and holding her as she burrowed into his kutte, needed the reassurance so she'd stop seeing the blood and flames in her mind. Chibs wondered how badly she’d needed a hug and wished Pixie had just come straight to him instead of hiding that she was in pain. "Nightmares again?" Chibs murmured, feeling worried for Pixie's mental state. Pixie just nodded into his kutte, trembling as she let her guards down and showed Chibs how absolutely terrified she was on the inside. Every time the clubhouse door opened, she half-expected it to be the IRA or Jimmy, hunting her down to torture and murder her. When she closed her eyes, all she saw was death and destruction, the bloody corpses of friends and family members in amongst the flames of the clubhouse. "It's gonna be alright, lass." Chibs reassured her, voice quiet and mellow, tightening his grip and kissing the top of her head, he could imagine the kind of fear she was going through as he'd also come under the wrath of Jimmy himself and that thought caused his grip to tighten a little more. "Why don't ye see if Juicy boy will stay with ye again tonight? ye seemed a lot better when he stayed with ye." Chibs suggested, half-debating on staying at the clubhouse himself so he could coach Pixie through the agonising grief and fear, wanting to help her as much as he could.

"Yeah, it's worth an ask. You help keep them at bay too." Pixie murmured, lifting her face up to look at Chibs. She looked exhausted, both emotionally and physically and Chibs' heart broke for her. Although he barely knew Pixie, it had only been a few days, Chibs couldn't let Pixie go through it alone, he felt connected to her and didn't want her to go through what he went through.

"I'm glad ta hear tha', ye sweet bonnie. Anytime ye need me, call me, or find me, I've got ye, lassie." Chibs promised, finding Pixie's left hand and twining Pixie's pinkie finger with his, trying to convey his care in a way that was so unique to Pixie. She beamed at the gesture, feeling calm enough to reign in her emotions again, giving Chibs one last cuddle before pulling away and steadying herself. Chibs knew that that was all that he was going to get out of her for today, the grief Pixie was feeling inside was incomprehensible and Pixie wasn't ready to process it quite yet.

Eventually Pixie pulled away from Chibs and resumed prospect duties behind the bar and the pair of them chattered comfortably with each other, talking about the UK, and sharing different food recipes and memories from Highton and Belfast, until they heard Jax stagger out of his bedroom. He came out shirtless, just in sweatpants and his blonde mane was every which way along with his goatee. Jax gave a gigantic yawn and a stretch, reaching his arms up as he sauntered to the bar, his back and arm muscles flexing and bulging under his tattoos of the reaper on his back and the gravestone on his right forearm.

"Well someone slept well." Pixie laughed, taking in his dishevelled form as he approached the bar, rubbing his face.

He smiled at Pixie before he took his place next to Chibs. "Yeah, got coffee?" Jax grunted, resting his chin on his right hand with his elbow on the bar, looking ready to slump down and go back to sleep again.

Pixie giggled, deciding Jax wasn't a morning person and set the coffee pot going. "You seen your kid lately?" She asked him hopefully as she set to work, getting a black mug out for Jax.

"Yeah, still in the baby box, getting stronger though." Jax rumbled as he slowly became more awake, peering into Chibs' mug when he saw the string hanging out the edge.

"He's a real fighter, yer Abel." Chibs commented, clapping Jax on the back with a hearty slap. Jax beamed, patting Chibs back too, then yawned again as Pixie passed him his mug.

"Here you go mate, try and drink this before your head hits the bar." Pixie teased him as she gave Jax his mug and watching him take a long sip. They heard voices from outside as the door opened and Tig, Happy, and Juice came through the door, all talking about motorcycles and mileage.

"Look who we found in the lot." Tig cheered, gesturing to Happy who shoved his hands in his light denim jeans. Chibs and Jax greeted him with raised mugs as he came to the bar with the others, finding a spot on the end again which seemed to be Happy's spot only when he was here.

"Hey, Happy, where you been?" Pixie greeted him cheerfully, glad to see a familiar face. Happy fixed her with his dark brown eyes, and Pixie was a little overwhelmed by just how intense they were, there was so much power, and vibrancy and emotion-packed into them, even though the rest of his face was pretty relaxed, a neutral scowl on his face. Happy grunted and shrugged. Pixie took this as the only response Happy was willing to give her. "Well, how about a coffee then, mate? If you're hungry I found a box of cereal in the back too, Coco Pebbles?" She asked him optimistically hoping to see more of a response from Happy, he was an interesting Son and Pixie really did want to get to know him better. At the mention of coffee and cereal, Happy nodded to both, giving Pixie more of a smile and Pixie counted that as a win. When Happy smiled, his face seemed to light up, along with his brown eyes and Pixie smiled back, relieved as she set up the mugs and poured the coffee out, handing them out to the newcomers and then going into the back and returning with the cereal box, bowl and spoon, giving them all to Happy and retrieving the milk carton for him as he eagerly poured himself a bowl and smacked Tig's hand away as he tried to take a pebble from Happy's bowl. Pixie giggled, watching this exchange as she drank a sip of her tea. Tig shook out the hand that Happy had delivered the slap to and beamed at Pixie, glad that he'd managed to make her laugh.

"Hey, why's your coffee got a string in it?" Tig asked confused as he nursed his coffee, leaving Happy to dig into his breakfast.

Chibs snorted a laugh. "It's a tea bag, ye daft numpty." He said pulling the string so Tig could see the teabag in the mug. Pixie giggled more, relieved to hear some good old UK slag returning to the conversation.

"Thought you were supposed to take those out?" Tig frowned, mystified by the ways of the teabag.

"Not always, Tiggy." Pixie laughed as Tig shook his head, deciding it was too early in the morning to get into the brewing rituals of tea drinkers.

"I don't think I'm ever going to understand tea. I'm sticking to coffee and hard liquor." He declared taking a hearty sip of his drink, getting laughs from the other Sons.

"Sounds like a typical Sons diet to me." Juice put in, smiling at Pixie as she came to hover opposite the bar to him, wanting to check in with her friend before she got stuck in with prospect business. After Juice and she checked in with each other, Pixie took breakfast orders off of the others and set up a shuttle service of toast to sate the sizable appetites of the Sons, making sure everyone had their fill and joking lightly with them as she did so.

☠️☠️☠️

Once everyone had prepared themselves for the day and Pixie had cleaned the bar and all the breakfast dishes away, she followed Tig out to the garage to start their morning shift seeing as he was the only Sons still in the clubhouse by that point. They walked across the lot together with Tig looping an arm around Pixie's shoulders as they chattered about the other Sons, with Tig offering up anecdotes and what he thought about each of his brothers. Pixie couldn't help but smile up at him as she listened, especially now that Tig definitely seemed to have feelings for her. When Tig and Pixie finally reached the garage bays. They found Juice and Half-Sack already working on various cars with the other Sons and mechanics, getting through a backlog.

"You sleep okay, baby doll?" Tig asked Pixie as he took off his kutte so it wouldn't get covered in motor oil, putting it in his locker and pulling on his work shirt. He gestured for Pixie to pass hers over too and saw a moment of panic in her eyes before she relented and handed it over, hugging her arms to her body in a self-conscious sort of way, feeling bereft without her kutte all of a sudden.

"Meh, not too bad." Pixie replied nonchalantly as she started reorganising the bookcase of manuals, realising they were ready to slide out with the haphazard way they'd been shoved in there.

"Well, that's the worst lie I've ever heard." Juice called out from under a green Honda Civic, his big work boots peeping out from under the bumper on a mechanic's stretcher.

"I slept the whole night and didn't wake up." Pixie retorted defensively in a half-truth, trying to focus on her task at hand as she began removing the manuals and reordering them.

"But had nightmares the entire time? Pass me the wrench." Juice guessed, sliding out from under the car enough to where Half-Sack could put the correct tool in his hand and then Juice returned back under his vehicle. Half-Sack was busily fixing a radiator on a black Jeep Cherokee next to him, already covered in grease and dirt.

"Yeah, it's just gonna take me a while." Pixie replied flatly, feeling awkward about the conversation, and wishing the topic would change, feeling vulnerable.

Half-Sack looked up from his work and saw Pixie's tense face and the way she was hunching her shoulders, physically shielding herself. He moved from his car and came to Pixie's side. "I still have Iraq flashbacks when I sleep. It's okay, kid, we get it." Half-Sack assured her, wiping his hands down on an oil rag, then patted Pixie on the shoulder, feeling the sheer amount of tension they held.

"Hey Lowell, can you take over the radiator on the Jeep? I'll go sweep up outside with Pixie." Half-Sack turned around, looking at a skinny mechanic with greasy brown hair. He looked deathly-pale and flighty as he came over, saying nothing as he set to the task. Half-Sack beckoned Pixie over as he went to get the broom with Pixie following along behind him, grateful for the distraction and Half-Sack coming to her aid. He seemed to understand what she was going through and that was a comfort for Pixie.

"Thanks, mate." Pixie told him gratefully as they carried two brooms out together from where they were leant against one of the back corners of the garage. Tig followed the pair out, still wanting to make sure Pixie was okay as she seemed to be struggling. He caught her at the door and took the broom to one side, resting it against the wall before he pulled her in for a hug, feeling Pixie tense up and then relax into him.

"I had fun last night." He smiled down at her, his voice soft. Half-Sack got to work on sweeping, glad that Tig had picked up that Pixie wasn't okay too.

"Me too. We should do that again soon, I loved it." Pixie spoke honestly, tipping her head back so she could see his face. Tig's elated grin was infectious and Pixie couldn't help but reciprocate.

"Oh yeah? Well, I've got plans for you, baby doll, so stay tuned." He kissed her on top of the head and let her go so she could get back to work. Pixie stepped away, then turned, grabbing a hold of the front of his shirt so she could reach up and kiss his cheek in a quick peck. She blushed and scooted away to Half-Sack who was paying very close attention to the ground whilst Tig froze as his brain short-fused with overwhelming feelings. He recovered and a huge grin appeared on his face as he watched Half-Sack and Pixie banter together, the two prospects quickly striking up a conversation with each other about video games and movies, joking about various characters and plotlines with each other whilst they cleared away the detritus in the lot. Tig took over from a mechanic working in the bay closest to them, hands working over the engine as he worked to fix the faults, wanting to stay close so keep an eye on them. He would never admit he was jealous, just... _protective._ A couple of minutes passed like this, and Tig listened to Pixie's happy chatter as she came out of her shell again until he heard the chatter stop abruptly and Tig straightened up, wanting to know what caused Pixie to pause, spotting a black Mercedes Benz pull up and honk twice at Jax, Chibs and Clay who were further down the lot. Pixie had tensed up, staring at the car warily before Half-Sack nudged her and snapped her out of the brief moment of nervousness and she gave him a thankful smile. Tig came out to see what was going on and Half-Sack looked over to him curiously, eager to be involved in Sons business where he could. 

"Who's the dude in the Benz?" He asked Tig, intrigued and also wanting to know so he could ease Pixie's fears. He stood his broom up and rested his hands on the top of the handle whilst Pixie leant hers against an empty oil drum.

"Elliot Oswald." Tig answered, putting his hands on his hips in his signature pose. Pixie glanced over at him; her interest piqued now she knew it wasn't a threat seeing as Tig was staying calm.

"As in Oswald Lumber?" Kip queried, wondering what a high-up businessman was doing talking to Clay as he studied the fancy car.

"Yeah, Oswald Lumber, Oswald Beef, Oswald Construction." Tig listed, jogging the younger Son's memory, and acting like he was stating the obvious.

"Sounds like he's a big guy around here?" Pixie asked, going back to sweeping some leaves and cigarette butts into the pile she and Half-Sack had created.

"Oh yeah, any big company in a mile-radius of Charming will most likely have Oswald attached to it at some point." Tig explained for her benefit, also feeling curious as to what Elliot Oswald was doing turning up to the clubhouse. He usually wanted nothing to do with them and stayed well away from Clay especially.

"Wonder what he wants with us?" Half-Sack asked, voicing Tig’s thoughts as they watched Elliot greet Clay and the others before heading into Clay's office with the president.

☠️☠️☠️

The guys had gone straight into church the minute Oswald had left Clay's office and Pixie's stomach was in knots as she anxiously worked on an SUV with a broken fan belt and a faulty engine. She knew that unplanned meetings like those never meant there was good news, and she was desperate to know what was going on, but dreading finding out at the same time, unsure of how much more stress she could handle right now. She just wanted her new brothers to be alright, and the worry that they could be in any mind of danger or trouble sent her mind and anxiety into a frenzy. She tried her best to keep her head down and work in the garage until eventually, she heard voices as Tig and Chibs walked over to the garage with Jax, chatting about the cars in the lot that needed work.

"Everything good?" Pixie asked looking up from the bonnet, her face calm but hazel eyes nervous. Chibs caught it and it pulled on his heartstrings a little, wishing he could shield her from the stress.

"Nah. We got a situation." Jax sighed and rubbed his face, sounding tense and downtrodden. Pixie jumped down from the stool she was using, wiping her hands down as she came over to him, wanting to help where she could, eyes flicking over the group to gauge how bad the situation was.

"Can I know or is this top-secret club shit?" Pixie asked reaching for a spanner from the workbench next to Jax, needing the tool for the engine and giving herself something to turn over in her hands. Jax glanced over at the other two older Sons, seeing what they thought about Pixie's query as she went back to her car, half-expecting the Sons to tell her not to worry about it. Prospects usually didn't have any clearance to club business, and she knew her place.

"She's gonna find out anyways, there's no way they can keep this quiet in a town like Charming." Tig decided, though he didn’t sound altogether enthused about Pixie knowing about what they did. Jax and Chibs nodded their grim approval, they didn't particularly want her caught up in the problem, Pixie had enough problems to deal with as it was.

"Oswald's daughter was kidnapped and raped at the carnival yesterday evening. Oswald wants us to find the fucker so he can kill him, himself." Jax told her, sounding sickened by what he was saying, he crossed his arms across his chest to try and ease the anger inside.

Pixie's blood ran cold, as she stepped off the stool again, her eyes wide and compassionate. " _What_? Shit, that's awful! Do you guys know her?" She asked them, wanting to know more, wanting to help as much as she could now that she had more information.

"Tristen? No, not well, I gave her tickets yesterday so she could ride the Spinout. Shit's terrible, she's just a kid." Jax replied looking sombre and disgusted that someone would do that to an innocent child.

Chibs watched the colour drain out of Pixie's tan face and the spanner she was holding clattered to the floor. " _No_... _no_ , _no_ , _no_ , _no_." Pixie gasped, hands shaking as she hugged her arms to her body, staggering backwards slightly, her hazel eyes huge and shining as she stared up in horror at the men.

The guys rushed to her side; worried Pixie was ready to faint. "What's going on? Baby, talk to us." Tig urged putting his hands on her shoulders to steady her whilst Chibs' hand went to her right wrist, feeling her pulse. Pixie looked up at them with horror-filled eyes. Jax hovered closely, concerned for Pixie too, but unsure of how to help.

"I rode the Spinout with a girl named Tristen yesterday, we talked for a while in the queue, she was a young girl, like thirteen or fourteen." Pixie managed to get out as she tried to settle her breathing, feeling distraught. Her words sunk into the other Sons as they realised Pixie had been well acquainted with the victim at the fairground and she was already entangled in the situation.

"Shite." Chibs heaved out, shaking his head. He hadn't wanted Pixie to get involved, she was only just starting to come out of her shell.

"She had mousy, wavy hair, blue eyes, pink top." Pixie mumbled, trying to think of the details, hoping to all hell there'd been a mistake.

"That's her." Jax said gravely, confirming Pixie's fears and wishing it wasn’t true himself. "Did you see what happened afterwards? She went missing not long after she went on that Spinout ride." Jax asked her gently, trying not to worry Pixie too much but also wanting to get the information out so they could start trying to rectify the terrible situation.

"Yeah, she told me she was supposed to meet her parents at the ice cream truck, but they weren't there. She went to wait and then I saw her walk off with a clown who gave her a balloon and tickets." Pixie recalled, focusing on slowing her breathing and pushing down her emotions so she could get into her problem-solving headspace.  
"That's who you were watching?" Tig asked, recalling the events of the day before, remembering how Pixie had been observing something like a hawk as he'd walked over to her and hadn’t even seen him until he’d walked right up to her.

"Yeah, I didn't see which way she went, lost track of her after you caught up with me." Pixie confirmed, pulling herself out of Tig and Chibs' grasps as an abrupt, deep rage took root now the shock was beginning to wear off. " _Bollocks_!" Pixie swore in fury; kicking the spanner on the floor as hard as she could with her left foot, sending it clattering out into the lot violently. The men watched it go before turning their attention back to Pixie, noting her fists clenched tightly at her sides. "I asked her if she wanted me to stay with her, I wanted to make sure nothing happened to her, but she insisted she was fine. I thought she would be. I thought she'd be okay." Pixie confessed, guilt seeping into her heart and mind, face distraught as she turned her face to the other Sons again.

"Hey, hey." Chibs grabbed Pixie, turning her to look at him fully, hands firm on her shoulders. "Don't ye dare put any o’ tha blame on yerself. This is _not_ yer fault." He told her fiercely, understanding what was happening in Pixie's brain. Pixie didn't look convinced fully but nodded.

"Exactly, we gotta focus on finding the asshole that did this." Tig put in, agreeing with what Chibs was trying to do with Pixie.

"You did your best; how could you have known this was gonna happen?" Jax added, joining in trying to help calm Pixie as well, feeling sorry for both Tristen and Pixie.

"I need some air." Pixie muttered. She broke away from them and stalked out into the lot. She felt sick to her stomach that this had happened, and it felt like it was on her watch. Tristen was so sweet and genuine, and Pixie had loved the short time they'd spent together, she wished she'd done something different; regret and guilt were blooming inside of her as well as rage for the monster who'd hurt this little girl. Pixie took a couple of calming breaths, refusing to break down as she walked away from the bay, trying to pull herself together. The guys watched her warily, giving her space but also wishing they could convince Pixie she wasn't the one at fault.

"Hey, kid." Pixie heard a deep voice as she walked around the corner of the garage and looked over to see Clay leaning against the garage wall smoking a fat cigar, his thick gold watch glinting in the sunlight.

"Hey, Clay, what's up?" Pixie asked him, trying to appear calm and collected in front of the club president. Clay walked her way and continued walking, Pixie took this as an invitation to join him, and trotted after Clay, hoping he would be a distraction for her to sort her feelings out and compose herself, suddenly wishing for some monotonous prospect duties.

"Heard what you said in there. You think the clown did it?" Clay asked, not looking at Pixie but straight ahead, his eyes hidden by his dark shades.  
Pixie swallowed hard, not even wanting to think about that. "I dunno. _Maybe_? He was the last person I saw Tristen with. He'd be the first person I'd interview if I was looking for the culprit." Pixie thought aloud, trying to organise her thoughts and stop her hands from shaking as she peered up at Clay.  
"Oswald wants us to, uh, find the fucker so he can kill him, but I know he's not going to go through with it. Those white-collar folks never do. So, when we find the rapist, I want _you_ to kill him." Clay declared, filling Pixie in, talking about it like it was small talk which only messed with Pixie's head more.

Pixie stopped walking and Clay turned around and looked at her, noticing her fists were clenching and un-clenching at her side, her hazel eyes were showing so much emotion and anger. "Why _me_? You have Tig and Happy for that." She objected, trying to figure out Clay's angle.

"Tig and Happy don't need to prove to me that they're worth their kutte now, do they?" Clay taunted, explaining it as if it was obvious and gestured to his patches on his chest arrogantly.

Pixie shook her head, looking away from him for a second to gather her thoughts and refrain from lashing out. "Clay, what's your point here? I'm doing everything a prospect is supposed to do, the others are starting to trust me, and I fit in fine around here. I wouldn't normally question a president's judgement, but I don't think I can face seeing bloodshed right now, not after what just happened to me. I'm just not in the right frame of mind." Pixie told him, her voice relatively even as she tried to navigate the situation.

"Well, get in the right frame of mind if you know what's good for you." Clay threatened causally, his voice still sounding like he was having a casual conversation, and this made it all the more jarring for Pixie as she watched him smoke his cigar and stare her down.

"Clay, I lost my entire charter and I'm still reeling from their losses; I don't know how much more I can take right now. Bench me and get Half-Sack to do it. He's desperate to prove himself as a Son and he's a good guy." Pixie argued flatly, trying to get him to see her side of things, to be understanding.

"Half-Sack's a fuckin' joke. He's good as a jockey, but he doesn't have fire. You do." Clay replied, his voice now going to a growl over Pixie objecting to him trying to order her around. “He also doesn’t have as much to prove to me as you, I need to know that patching a woman is a good idea, that you can actually do the shit I need you to do.” He added, voice deep, firm, and unforgiving and it felt like nails on a chalkboard to Pixie who scowled back at him.

Pixie didn't like that response at all, glaring at Clay with the fire in her eyes that he'd spotted on her first day here. "I think you're underestimating him." Pixie growled back in defence of her friend, taking a step closer to Clay, face in a frown, hands still clenching and unclenching.  
"I think you're pussying out of this. You really don't want to put a bullet in the heart of the guy who hurt your little friend? You're just gonna let him walk around doing this to others?" Clay argued, manipulating the situation, doing what he did best.

Pixie felt bile rise in her throat at his words. "That's a low blow, Clay." Pixie snapped, horrified that he was prepared to go there. "That's not what I'm saying. Don't push me on this." She warned, shaking her head slowly, warning Clay that he didn't want to mess with her, not when she was in a mood like this.

"I'll push you all I want. I call the shots here." Clay rebuked angrily, not used to Sons arguing back, especially not prospects, but this wasn't an ordinary prospect. Pixie scoffed angrily and turned on her heels, stalking away from Clay before she did something rash like punching him in the face.

" _Hey_! I'm fuckin' talking to you!" Clay roared after her, furious Pixie was so openly defying him. Chibs and Tig came jogging out of the garage upon hearing the shout, witnessing Pixie stamping away from Clay like the embodiment of a storm, and Clay seething on the spot a few feet away.

Pixie turned around, walking backwards. "And I'm fuckin' walking away from you!" Pixie fired back, yelling at him with outrage in her tone, shutting the conversation down. She then turned around and strode away, really needing to hit something and get the fire in her veins out. Chibs and Tig went after Pixie as Clay stomped into the garage, heading for the office, and slamming the door behind him. When the two Sons caught up to Pixie, they exchanged worried looks as they walked alongside her, having never seen Pixie this riled up before.

"What's goin' on?" Tig inquired, wanting to get a handle on the situation and why Clay and Pixie had just yelled at each other.

"Clay wants me to take out the rapist." Pixie ground out, shaking her head as her hands balled into white-knuckled fists.  
"Wha'?" Chibs gasped, taken aback by Pixie's explanation as he turned to Tig with a questioning glance.

"Ask your fuckin' pres'." Pixie snapped as she reached the punching bag hanging from the beam outside of the clubhouse, under the porch area. She punched it as hard as she could with two quick hits from both her fists, sending it swinging. Tig grabbed the bag to steady it as Pixie let out a breath and raked her hand through her hair, looking stressed and pissed. "I'm sorry for snarking at you, I didn't mean that." She mumbled, glaring at the cement below her boots, heaving a breath into her lungs.

“S’okay, tell us what’s goin’ on, lass.” Chibs replied, giving her space, and sitting on the edge of the nearest picnic bench table, eyes studying her.

"I just don't think my head's in the right space for seeing blood at the minute. Hell, it's all I see in my dreams at night. Every time I even think about firing my guns, all I can see is the gunshot wounds in Bruce's chest and the smell of smoke from our burning clubhouse." Pixie described, coming clean for the first time, knowing she had to tell them why she was so upset. The breath left Chibs’ lungs for a moment and his eyes glossed a little, moved by Pixie's words. He lit a cigarette, thinking hard about how to rectify the situation.

Tig felt just as pained, trying to imagine the horrors Pixie had been exposed to. She had been the cause of so much joy for Tig and he wanted to be there for her in return. "That's awful, doll.” He put in softly, putting a hand on Pixie’s back. “We could talk to Clay, see where his head's at?" He thought aloud, turning his head to see if Chibs agreed, wanting to do something to help.

" _No_. No way. The second Clay gets wind of me getting special treatment, I'll be on the first bus outta here. He has to see that I'm an equal." Pixie clarified, voice sounding frustrated as she gave the bag another hit with her right fist aggressively. Tig, worried for the health of Pixie's knuckles, quickly grabbed a pair of boxing gloves from inside and came back to her side, helping her put them on. He stopped for a moment as he took her left hand in his and Pixie observed a soft, sweet smile on his face.

"What?" She asked him quietly and momentarily distracted, puzzled by the expression Tig was giving her as he cradled Pixie's hand in his.

"Your hands are so sweet and small. I love them." Tig told her gently, stroking the back of Pixie's hand, they contrasted against his fair skin, and he could see they were littered with little scars from years of fighting and rough use, but were so delicate at the same time. Pixie blushed a little and shoved her hand inside the glove, not in the right frame of mind for mushy feelings, but also feeling flattered that Tig had had that reaction.

"Now is not tha time fer goin' weak-kneed, lover-boy." Chibs reprimanded, shaking his head at Tig, before he returned his attention to Pixie. "Have ye ever killed anyone before, lassie?" He asked Pixie as Tig secured the gloves and Pixie started pounding on the bag like a hellcat whilst Tig held it steady for her, feeling the impacts on the bag and being taken aback by the sheer amount of force coming out of Pixie, her eyes locked onto the bag with a death-glare.

Pixie stopped for a second, catching her breath. "Eight times. It doubled during the massacre." She revealed darkly. "First was a drunk driver who killed innocents, second was an animal abuser, third was a guy who made the mistake of taking a shot at Bruce, and the fourth was a rapist who made the mistake of trying his sick game in _my_ town. The other four were IRA fuckers who were firing at us. They set the clubhouse ablaze whilst everyone was inside, then shot at anyone with a kutte trying to escape. I had to kill them to get myself and two other Sons out." Pixie listed, only looking at the punching bag, trying to get on top of her emotions. Chibs watched her eyes, Pixie didn't even look like she was seeing the same things they were, she was reliving the night of the massacre in gruesome detail.

"I'm so sorry, darlin'. I wish things would have played out differently." Tig replied honestly, heart breaking for her. Pixie gave one more hit and then turned away from the bag. Tig moved towards her, rubbing her back and she quickly turned to him and wrapped her arms around his torso, clinging to him for stability now the rage was quelled for the time being. Chibs got up off of the bench and hugged her from the other side so she was completely surrounded by comfort and love as Pixie came down from her anger and was hit by grief, guilt, pain, and torment. As the flashbacks raced through Pixie’s mind, she held onto the men, slowly trying to bring herself out of it. The trio stayed like that for a while, until Pixie moved to pull away from them both, feeling in control again and being able to shut the door on the past once more.

Tig helped her out of her gloves again and caught a steely determination in her eyes.

“What’re ye thinkin’ now, lass?” Chibs questioned, straightening out Pixie’s kutte. "When I first had to kill, I wasn't sure I would be able to go through with it. I'd seen what the drunk bastard had done, I gave the only surviving victim CPR. I went to visit her in the hospital and hearing her cry at the loss of her two children and her husband... it did something to me. I felt like I was in control all of a sudden and I was able to go through with the kill, for _her_. Maybe I need to talk to Tristen, jumpstart my kill-instinct." Pixie theorised, attempting to figure out how the hell she was going to go through with Clay's demands.

"It might do tha' poor lass some good ta see a friendly face too. Let me talk ta Clay and see if we can work out a way ta get ye in ta tha hospital." Chibs suggested, he also had half a mind to ask Clay what the actual fuck he was trying to do to Pixie but kept that angry thought quiet.

"Yeah, I want to help her in any way I can. She needs all the support she can get." Pixie agreed, thinking of the young victim. She had been almost the same age when she'd first experienced trauma and she felt the need to safeguard and protect Tristen.

"Good on ye, lassie." Chibs encouraged, tucking a strand of hair that had fallen in front of Pixie's face back behind her left ear, the little act of care felt so natural to him.

"Before all this happened, I was able to slip in and out of the killer mindset I needed to be able to fight and go through with take-downs. It was like a hyper-focus where everything around me disappeared and my feelings shut off and it was just me and whoever my target was. Now it feels like everything's spinning out of control." Pixie came clean, finally being able to voice concerns she'd had for a while now.

"I saw a bit of that when you and Jax sparred. I don't think you've lost it completely." Tig put in, wanting to comfort Pixie. "Leave it up to us, we'll find a way for you to talk to Tristen, okay? We got you, doll." He reassured Pixie, tucking her against his side.

"Aye, don't worry about it now, I said I'd be there fer ye, bonnie, and I intend to keep that promise." Chibs agreed, squeezing her shoulder. Pixie smiled in response, her head feeling a little clearer and deeply comforted by the fact Chibs and Tig were so adamantly there for her.

"Thanks, guys." She looked up at both men appreciatively, a sense of gratitude in her heart. Neither of them had to do this, and yet they’d dropped everything to make sure Pixie was alright, and that meant everything to Pixie.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ 

**Sorry, this chapter gets a little dark, but it's necessary for character development. Please let me know your thoughts. -Lulu ♥♥♥**

****


	20. Fun Town Episode: Chapter 5

After Chibs and Tig helped Pixie and she’d managed to calm down, she was able to resume prospect duties for the next hour or two and was doing her level best to avoid Clay, who was not happy with the fact that their conversation didn't go the way he planned it to. Pixie returned to the garage and helped fix up the cars and acted as a gofer form the other Sons and mechanics. After a while of this, she sat in the garage to rest for a moment, fiddling around with various engine parts when Hale showed up with a backup cop in tow in his green police jeep. She watched from inside as the other Sons flooded out onto the lot and promptly had a standoff with him. Pixie picked up that Hale wanted to interview all the Sons that were at the fair and pulled out her phone, deciding to text Juice to give him a heads up seeing as he’d gone off to do Sons duties.

**P:** Cops r ere, wnt statements frm all Sons @ Carnie. u gt IDs yet?

**J:** Got em :) On way. Hale?

**P:** @ T.M

**J:** HS will tail. C U soon :p

Pixie smiled and put her phone back in her pocket, watching the others from the shadows in the depths of the garage so she wouldn’t be immediately obvious to Hale. After a tense exchange, Hale eventually left and the other Sons came back to the garage, figuring out what to do next now they had police interference.

"Chibs, head to the, uh, carnival. Keep an eye out for anythin’, we'll join you once we've taken the statements.” Clay ordered, Pixie could see his mind whirring as he strode in with the other Sons, cigar in hand. “Someone get Juice." He added as the Sons began to fan out, all going to their tasks. Chibs nodded at Clay in acknowledgement, getting ready to head out whilst Jax and Tig looked like they were thinking hard.

"Already done." Pixie informed Clay, coming over to where he’d stopped walking by the office door, the others turned to look at her, surprised by Pixie jumping into the conversation. "What? You guys were talking loud.” She added when they kept looking at her. “He's getting Half-Sack to tail Hale, so we'll have a rough idea of where he's heading around Charming." She clarified, putting her hands in the back pocket of her jeans and looking up at Clay and Jax.

"That's good, Juice headin’ back here?" Jax asked her, lighting up a cigarette. He liked how on the ball Pixie was being as it made his job a hell of a lot easier, and it meant she wasn’t having to be babied through the situation.

"Yep. He's also got the ID's for me, so congrats, Chibbie, it's a girl." Pixie said with a laugh, turning to Chibs, who was leaning against a metal tool cabinet. He grinned and straightened up, putting an arm around Pixie’s shoulders and tucked her against his side.

"Tha’ works fer me, lassie." He confirmed with a pleased smile. Chibs decided that this could potentially be another shot at being a father for him, and he was going to take that seriously, especially when he knew Pixie needed family and support in her life after losing so much. She was putting on a brave face and knuckling down into the Sons business, but there was a whole world of pain behind her eyes.

"A'ight, least that means if they have to talk to you, you're not gonna come up on their system." Jax agreed, taking in how Chibs was looking down at Pixie as she focused on the others, a sense of pride and excitement in his eyes, he really wanted to take care of Pixie, and Jax realised just how much this chance actually meant to Chibs, it was a fresh start for him, just as much as it was for Pixie.

"Exactly, less trouble for the club." Pixie pointed out. “And from the looks of it, we got enough trouble on our hands for now.” She added, pointing out onto the lot as they heard a car engine and another cop car drove into the lot.

"Looks like we're takin’ statements then.” Clay sighed, looking like he was a little pissed off. “ I'll go first, then Jax, then Tig, we need to be free to go bastard huntin’." Clay informed the group, adjusting his sunglasses.

☠️☠️☠️

Clay's plan quickly derailed when the group realised that not only were the cops taking statements, they were also stalling them, keeping the Sons at the garage. Clay had been the only one successful with taking a statement, and even he knew half the questions were bullshit just to keep him talking. As soon as they were done with him, they’d taken a coffee break, then a bogus phone call and now the cops could be heard discussing what they felt like getting for lunch.

"I can't believe those assholes are takin' another coffee break." Jax grumbled as he stood with Clay and Tig in the doorway of the garage, he’d worked a little on the cars to pass the time, but his levels of agitation were reaching their peak. He had things to do, and dammit he wanted to do them.

"Total jerk off. Hale must know we're looking for the guy." Clay agreed, equally frustrated, crossing his arms to quell the annoyance from bubbling up, he knew if he reacted or heckled the cops, he’d be smacked with ‘disorderly conduct’. As far as Clay was concerned, he was stuck on how to get the club past the cops. "We're gonna be here all day." He sighed in exasperation.

Pixie, who had been sweeping up metal filing behind the two Sons, paused and straightened up, cocking her head to one side. Tig was drinking coffee whilst Chibs smoked as they leant against the doorway to the office and watched her analysing the situation, reading it like a book with her intelligent hazel eyes. "I have an idea if you guys wanna hear it?" She spoke up after a moment, her voice hopeful and a little excited. Clay and Jax turned around to look at Pixie, surprised that she’d come forward.

"Oh yeah? Shoot." Jax encouraged, interested to see what was going to come out of Pixie. She gestured for them to come closer, walking backwards into the garage some more so she wouldn’t be seen or overheard. The four men strode over to her crowding around Pixie.

"Anyone got sleeping pills? I need the strong stuff." Pixie declared holding her hand out expectantly. Clay raised his eyebrows in response and Pixie looked at the Sons, rolling her eyes. "Oh, come on, you're Sons. One of you has to have somethin’." She insisted, showing she wasn’t as naïve as she sometimes came across with her childlike playfulness.

Tig sighed and reached into his inner kutte pocket and passed over a baggie full of white tablets. "Don't think less of me." Tig pleaded, voice low, realising how dodgy it looked and how much he wanted Pixie to trust him implicitly.

"I don't judge, tough guy.” Pixie assured him, holding his gaze for a second to show she was telling the truth. “I'm just going to offer them a good, honest cup of coffee." Pixie explained, putting on an innocent, sweet tone, giving a wink as she tucked the baggie into the front pocket of her jeans.

"That's so bad, I love it." Tig grinned, eager to see this new side of Pixie that he hadn’t yet encountered but was excited to see what she was capable of.

"They can't get a good look at your face, kid, we don't want you getting into too much trouble too quickly." Jax warned, grabbing Pixie's forearm. Pixie flinched very slightly, almost subconsciously at the contact, but didn’t seem phased.

"Trust me, Jackie boy, they ain't gonna be looking at my face." Pixie grinned devilishly. She took off her kutte, passing it to Chibs and grabbed the hem of her t-shirt, pulling it off to reveal a lace red bralette complete with red straps leading from the main armbands to the centre of the bra making a chevron shape, practically pointing at her cleavage. Pixie adjusted it slightly and Tig smacked Jax upside the head when he realised Jax was ogling Pixie. Pixie fixed her hair up into a high ponytail, tousled it slightly then turned to look at the guys. "Watch and learn." Pixie smirked before turning on the spot and sashaying out to the cops.

"Hello, boys!" Pixie called out to the cops, giving a flirty wave to them. "It's hot today, isn't it?" She said as she reached them, head up and shoulders back, the picture of confidence and as though she’d just stepped off one of the Harley posters with the pretty women posing with the bikes.

"Sure is, miss." One of the cops replied in a friendly manner. They were both looking at Pixie's bra like it was a football game and their team was winning.

"How about somethin’ to drink? Coffee?” Pixie offered, walking right up to the men and then standing in between them, beaming up at the cops with a butter-wouldn’t-melt smile. “Wanna know somethin’.” Pixie asked them, both of them nodding, colour flushing to their faces as Pixie twirled her hair, keeping her eye contact with them and her tone so soft and seductive like verbal satin. “I like my coffee how I like my men strong and sweet." Pixie revealed, perching herself on the edge of the squad car’s hood so the men had to look down at her. “I also love men in uniform, so here’s my question; are you both the strong and sweet type?" Pixie asked them suggestively, toying with the right strap of her bralette, drawing even more attention to her.

"Oh yeah." The second cop grinned, he looked young, late twenties with brown buzzed hair and dark eyes set in a squarish face. Pixie’s smile widened at his response and she gently stroked down his black tie and gave it a small tug.

“And how about you,  _ officer _ ?” Pixie asked, turning to the first cop who didn’t look quite as convinced, but seemed to be starting to sway the way Pixie needed him to.

“C’mon, Unser doesn’t have to know, we’re technically on break.” The second cop encouraged, practically pointing to Pixie, his eyes pleading with the other cop.

“Exactly, I’m  _ very _ good at keeping things a secret.” Pixie encouraged him, stroking down the cop’s arm as she looked up at him through her lashes.

“Oh, what the hell.” The first cop relented, probably against his better judgement. He looked to be in his forties with sandy blonde hair and brown eyes, he was slimmer built than the second cop, but equally as muscular. The grin that appeared on Pixie’s face reminded Jax of a cat who caught the canary.

"Well come inside and let's have some coffee then, shall we?" Pixie replied eagerly, jumping up onto her feet, all smiles and affection as she wrapped her arms around the backs of each cop, so she was in between them, guiding them towards the garage. Clay couldn't believe what he was seeing as Pixie sashayed back into the garage with the two cops practically drooling over her and tripping over their feet as they walked with Pixie. She reached the office and turned to the Sons who were all pretending to act natural, picking up random bits of machinery and ‘looking busy’. "Would any of you fellas like some?" Pixie quizzed the other Sons, her voice soft and alluring. Tig thought he'd swallowed his tongue looking at Pixie in full seduction mode.

"No thanks, lassie." Chibs declined and the others shook their heads along with him. Averting their eyes and playing along as if it was just another day at the garage. Pixie ushered the cops into the break room where the coffee machine was, along with a spare desk, filing cabinets and two sofas.

"Well sit down, you poor boys have been standing on your feet in the sun all day, and we can't have you losing your stamina now, can we?" Pixie tutted full of affection and flirtatious energy, gesturing to the sofa opposite the coffee machine. The cops sat down eagerly, exchanging excited glances with one another as Pixie turned her back to them to sort the coffee maker, she bent over slightly, hiding what she was really doing from the cops as they watched her back gleefully. Jax had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. Those cops were completely done for and Pixie had them hanging off of her every word. She slipped some of the tablets into the coffee pot and swirled it around, so they dissolved properly. Then Pixie poured out two mugs full and added sugar to mask the taste before bending down slightly to pass the cops their mugs, showing off her cleavage. "Drink up, lovies." Pixie instructed with a wink. "Can't have you getting dehydrated, and you’re gonna need that energy."

The cops practically chugged the coffees as Pixie leant against the desk with an empty cup in her hand, pretending to drink it. The Cops were so distracted they didn’t even realise this detail, too busy guzzling down the coffee so they could get to the next stage of what they thought was going to occur. The other Sons came closer to the doorway nonchalantly and within moments the cops were out cold. One fell sideways and Tig grabbed him before he hit his head on the floor, pushing him back upright again.

"Now tha’, was feckin’ braw." Chibs grinned, passing Pixie her t-shirt as she strode out of the office with a wicked smile, glad her plan had worked so well.

"This is why we need her on our team." Jax smirked at Clay as Pixie wriggled back into her t-shirt, Pixie’s energy returning to an excited puppy who’s just been told she’d done a good job.

Clay had to admit he was impressed; he knew the other Sons wouldn’t have been able to play that off nearly as well as Pixie did. "Good job, prospect." He acknowledged with a nod, going back to smoking his cigar.

"Thanks, Mr Play-Doh." Pixie replied with a beaming smile, making the others chuckle at her quip. Chibs checked both cops had steady pulses and were okay whilst Pixie passed Tig the baggie back, gazing up at Tig, who looked completely hypnotised, his blue eyes distant and a soft smile on his face as he stared down at Pixie.

"That was awesome." Jax encouraged, giving Pixie a hi-five to make sure he got the message across. "Don't fall on the floor!" Jax joked, gesturing to the unconscious cops.

"They're looking at a twelve-hour nap, I think." Tig laughed, checking the baggie. "Good job, doll." He added, taking Pixie’s kutte from the workbench and passing it to her. "Now please put this back on." He told her, still unable to take his eyes off of Pixie, who blushed.

"Why? You jealous, Tiggy?” Pixie asked him with a giggle, smoothing her kutte down once it was back on her back where it belonged.

"Kinda." Tig admitted quietly, causing Pixie to laugh, shaking her head as she returned to her broom, resuming prospect duties before Clay had a chance to go off at her for slacking.

☠️☠️☠️

Now free from the cops, Jax and Chibs headed off to the carnival to scope it out and question the carnival workers once Hale left the fairground. Pixie got back to work in the garage feeling a little better about her situation now Clay had seen a little of what she could do without having to shed blood. She only hoped it might get him off her back a little until she could figure out how to go through with the inevitable killing of the guy who hurt Tristen. Pixie had an awful lot on her mind, and it was starting to feel crowded again, which was never a good sign. She tried to distract herself by throwing herself back into the garage work, keeping her head down and focusing on repairing as many cars as she could get through with the other mechanics so she wouldn’t have to face the trauma inside her mind. After a while of this, Pixie was brought out of her thoughts by Tig who squatted down next to where she was changing a tyre on a red Buick Lacrosse.

"Hey, doll.” Tig greeted as Pixie paused her task to give Tig her attention, smiling as soon as she saw his face. This was a reaction Tig was still getting used to, but just knowing he was the reason Pixie was smiling warmed his heart. “Can we talk real quick?" He asked her, putting his hand on the tyre to keep it a little steadier whilst she took off the last of the lug nuts.

"Sure, what's up Tiggy?" Pixie asked him, butterflies starting to flit around as Tig’s hand brushed hers as he helped her set the tyre down.

Tig tipped his head towards the clubhouse and got up, so Pixie tidied her tools to one side and followed along after him, reaching out for Tig’s hand so she could keep pace with his long strides. The feeling of Pixie’s small hand in Tig’s set his heart into a flutter and he tightened his grip around it, protective and dominant. They walked inside together, and Tig headed for Pixie’s dorm room, towing Pixie along behind him, unusually quiet. Once inside, Tig shut the door, then put his hand up to his chin, rubbing it as he looked like he was deep in thought, Pixie’s hand slipping from his.

"Tiggy?" Pixie tried again, trying to prompt him, unsure of the situation. Tig’s brow was furrowed and she could practically see the cogs turning in his head. Tig scrubbed his face with his hands, looking stressed out all of a sudden.

"What happened earlier just threw me for a loop." He told Pixie finally, looking at her with his intense crystal blue eyes for a second.

"What do you mean?" Pixie asked, trying to get a good look at Tig's face, he kept turning away from her pacing in the small space between the two heavy dark wooden dressers that stood either side of the doorway.

"That little stunt you pulled." Tig growled abruptly, causing Pixie to tense up at the change in Tig’s mood and voice, taking a couple of cautious steps back, her fighting instincts tensing as she worried about what was going on with Tig. He suddenly turned and punched the side of one of the dressers with his right fist, then cursed and shook his hand out. Pixie immediately put her fists up on impulse.

"Trager? You wanna tell me why there's now a perfect imprint of your rings in my dresser?" Pixie quipped, her voice steady, but had risen a few octaves out of concern. Tig finally looked over at Pixie and saw how her whole body had gone rigid like a spring about to explode, Tig swore internally, realising he was scaring Pixie, she looked like a little cat with her tail all puffed out. He hadn’t meant to do that at all, if anything he wanted Pixie to feel safe with him.

"I'm not mad at you, baby, don't worry." Tig hushed, voice comforting again as he came to her side slowly, making sure he made no quick movements. He wasn’t wanting to get a left hook to the face. He carefully reached for her hands and uncurled them in his, getting Pixie to calm down. "I’m sorry, I just got annoyed with my head. It's buzzin’ and I'm not good with words." Tig revealed, raising Pixie’s hands up and placing them against his chest, cradling them there with his own, trying to soothe the last of the tension.

"Take a deep breath and try again." Pixie instructed him, relaxing a little, though her eyes were still wary, Tig did as he was told, leaning forwards with his head bowed as he tried to think straight. Pixie came closer and put her forehead against his, smiling a little when she heard Tig chuckle at her action.

"I don't want to sound all possessive, because I want to take things slow with you, doll. I really care about you, a lot.” Tig started, straightening up so he could see Pixie’s face again properly, watching her eyes widen in surprise at his words. “ And it's scaring the  _ shit _ out of me because you don't realise how close I was to cutting a brother today. The way Jax was looking at you,  _ man _ .” Tig described, shaking his head for emphasis. “You don't deserve that. And those bastard cops.  _ Fuck _ . I thought I could handle them drooling over you, but then when I saw the looks they were giving you. I wanted to do some really bad shit." Tig explained darkly, his protective instincts in full flow as he looked down at Pixie’s sweet face, her hands gripped his fingers, needing to fiddle instead of being still as Pixie’s brain kicked into high gear, needing to think for a second. Tig let her, watching her nimble fingers entwine with his, gently turning his silver reaper ring on his right index finger.

Pixie was completely taken aback by this outburst from Tig. She'd never been in this situation before; her previous club had always encouraged her to do what she had to do to keep the club safe. "You do realise the hypocrisy of this, don't you? If a crow-eater takes their top off, you're all over them, but as soon as I take it off, you want me to put it straight back on?" Pixie questioned, eyes flicking up to Tig’s face as she gave a little giggle, Tig smirked and then shook his head.

"Yeah, and that's fucking with me too. You're different though, they do it because they  _ want _ to. I think what I'm trying to get across here is that I don't want you to feel pressured... like you have to pull those types of stunts just because the club demands it." Tig expressed, his worry for Pixie clear on his face and Pixie stared up at him in wonderment, touched that Tig was so concerned about it.

"No one pressured me, Tiggy, I volunteered." Pixie reassured him, rubbing her thumbs against the sides of his hands, Tig squeezed her fingers gently.

"Yeah, but the fact that that was the first thing you thought of, have you pulled that stunt before?" He asked, his need to protect Pixie becoming stronger.

Pixie shrugged, not feeling used to people trying to protect her, usually, it was the other way around. "Having tits has its perks." She joked, lightening the situation, smiling cheekily up at Tig.

Tig chuckled at her words and expression. "Amen to that." He joked back, observing Pixie as she went back to her thoughts, organising them so she could work out the best way to phrase what she was going to say next.

"The only reason I volunteered to do it in the first place was because I knew it would earn me some points with Clay, and also because I knew if things did go south, or the cops tried anything with me, not only could I handle myself, I also knew I had you and Chibs to back me up, you guys would’ve jumped them in a heartbeat." Pixie described, thinking about how both Chibs and Tig had taken on a protective role for Pixie, in two different ways.

Tig smiled, glad that Pixie knew he and Chibs were looking out for her. "Ain't that the truth. Jax would jump too, he respects you, even if he did get hypnotised by your bra thing for a second." Tig added, his voice back to the usually relaxed tone that Pixie was becoming attached to.

"It's bright red, it's hard not to." Pixie giggled, seeing the smile she loved to see reappear on Tig's face. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and Pixie cuddled into Tig, loving how that felt too. She looked up at him, studying Tig’s happy face, and Pixie decided to take a leap of faith. She promptly pulled down on Tig's kutte, pulling him to her level before she could chicken out, and pressed her lips to his. Tig froze for a second then completely melted into it, his hands coming to tangle gently into Pixie's hair and cup her face. Pixie had only kissed someone once before, so she didn't quite know what to do at first, but to her relief, Tig kicked in and gently kissed her back, moving his lips with hers. He tasted of mint, tobacco and coffee and Pixie went weak-kneed for it, her own hand reaching for Tig’s curls and his shoulder as the kiss deepened. Then Tig gently pulled away, pupils blown, holding Pixie steady as she clutched his shirt, her heart beating wildly in her chest, her mind on cloud nine.

"Woah." Tig breathed out taken aback at first, then he grinned as he realised that the kiss had really happened, his eyebrows raising as he beamed down at Pixie

“‘Woah’ indeed.” Pixie laughed, catching her breath as she settled her hands on Tig’s biceps. “Sorry for kissing you so out of the blue like that. Probably should have asked." Pixie apologised, hoping to all hell she hadn’t done something bad. She blushed, suddenly feeling wildly unsure of herself as she looked down at the carpet until Tig put a finger under her chin and guided her face gently back up to look at him.

"Baby, I've been wanting you to do that since I first set eyes on you. I just wasn't sure you felt the same way." Tig revealed, sowing down his words to make sure Pixie took in exactly what he was saying.

"Pfft, was the flirting at the diner not enough for you?” Pixie laughed in relief, causing Tig to do the same, he loved Pixie’s augh already, it was such a happy sound. “Did I need a neon sign saying; ‘I have the hots for Tig Trager’?" Pixie added, regaining her confidence now she knew Tig was more than alright.

"Oh, hell yeah, get it in pink and maybe Jax will stop starin’ at you." Tig agreed with a chuckle, then he sobered up, wanting to get one more point across. "I meant what I said though, I'm falling fast for you, doll. But I don't want to influence you. This has to be your decision. Especially with all the club shit, and the fact that I'm like double your age." Tig told her seriously, it felt as though the world was melting around Pixie and Tig and it was just them and their budding feelings. Tig had never felt more vulnerable than he did in this moment, laying his cards out and half-expecting Pixie to walk out the door just like all his other romantic encounters over the years.

Pixie completely surprised him, however, as she tightened her hold on his arms, leaning more against him to show she wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. "Tig, forget the age gap. I'm twenty-two and I'm a consenting adult, okay?” She told him, voice serious and firm. “If the others want to make fun of me for it, good luck to them because they're gonna need it. I really, really like you back, Tig. Though I do think we should take things slow, the last thing I want is for Clay to use it as an excuse to not patch me.” Pixie explained, Tig nodded, understanding where Pixie was coming from. Two Sons dating was all new territory for the club. “Hell, Gemma already tried that route." Pixie added, resulting in a confused look from Tig.

"What?" He queried, stunned, holding Pixie a little tighter, getting used to the feeling of holding someone for the sake of being close, it felt so right, and he felt all the negative worries and seeped away from his mind.

"Met Gemma the other day, and the first thing out her mouth was 'you sleeping with anyone?'" Pixie quoted, inhaling Tig’s signature scents and relaxing under his touch, feeling like the world wasn’t so imposing when she was in Tig’s arms.

"Oh fuck, yeah, Chibs told me about the meeting, it really went as bad as that, baby?" Tig replied, leaning back a little to see Pixie’s face better, seeing how a sparkle of happiness appeared in her eyes at the pet name.

"Yeah, it's ranked in my top ten list of 'what the fuck is going on?' situations." Pixie joked, resting her head on Tig’s chest tentatively, listening to his heart beat in a steady rhythm.

"Gemma likes me, so maybe us being a thing might chill her out?" Tig suggested, resting his chin on the top of Pixie’s head, trying to reassure her.

"Maybe, or it'll just make her even more jealous and she'll hit me with something harder than her hand. Either way, she comes at me again and she'll be eating dirt." Pixie grumbled, reminding Tig of a hissing little cat.

"Is that why you're avoiding her?" Tig asked, gently inhaling Pixie’s strawberry and vanilla scent mixed with the pine scent and motor oil, it seemed to sum Pixie up pretty well in Tig’s eyes, sweet and cute, but strong and practical. He recalled how every time Gemma appeared at TM, Pixie disappeared faster than it took Gemma to take off her sunglasses, sneaking around so she wouldn’t have to deal with the biker queen.

"Yup, I don't think I'm going to get in Clay's good books by kicking his old lady's ass all the way across the border." Pixie joked, lifting her head up so she could see Tig’s face again, wanting to take in everything about it, his wild dark brown curls, wide jaw and a Roman nose, rugged and charming.

"Yeah, that'll get you screwed for sure." Tig laughed, picturing Pixie in fight mode again. He sighed, straightening up from Pixie and reluctantly letting her go. "C'mon then, angel, we better get back to business before the boss man realises we're gone. I'll find you a spare TM work shirt to wear while you're on your shifts, Juice’ll kill ya if you get oil on his t-shirts." 

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	21. Fun Town Episode: Chapter 6

As soon as Juice got back, he went hunting through the databases looking for anything that could connect the attack on Tristen with Darby's gang. Tig and Bobby went looking for Darby soon after and Pixie was left to her own devices, she continued working in the garage, trying to make up for the lack of manpower since most of the Sons were dispatched elsewhere. The other mechanics were keeping their heads down and staying out from under Clay's feet, so Pixie didn't really have anyone to talk to. She instead starting sifting and sorting through her overcrowded mind, she was itching to go on a ride and work through it doing what she did best, but knowing that wasn't an option, she resorted to keeping her hands busy. She practically jumped out of her skin and smacked her hand on the raised bonnet lid of the car engine she was working on when a deep voice said "Yo." next to her. She looked up to see Bobby holding his helmet.

"You okay? I could practically hear you thinking." He asked her as Pixie cursed and shook out her hand, she couldn't help but see the similarity with the earlier conversation she'd had with Tig and it made her laugh to herself.

"Yeah, you just caught me by surprise, for a big fella, you move quietly." She commented with a grin.

Bobby rolled his eyes. "Well whatever you're thinking about, stop for a moment and come talk to us about the clown you saw."

Pixie nodded and followed after him, wiping the engine grease off of her hands with a rag. "Are you okay? Find Darby yet?"

"Nope, he's completely vanished. Tig and I have been to all of his usual haunts and he's missing from all of them."  
"Wow, maybe he got assassinated?" Pixie offered. Bobby raised an eyebrow and looked at her as they walked. "Sheesh. They didn't mess around in Highton, did they?"

"We had the lowest crime rate in the district for a reason." Pixie grinned.

"Remind me not to cross you, will ya?" Bobby said with a laugh. They reached Tig and Clay who were discussing how to proceed with the plan. Juice suddenly burst out of the office and came jogging across, as soon as he spotted Pixie he gave her a goofy grin before going back into business mode.

"Three of Darby's gang have done time for sex crimes. Two are still in P.Bay, other's Johnny Yates, got a P.O. box in Pope." He said as he reached them. He passed the paper over to Tig and Bobby who studied it.

"Hey, we saw this guy at the carnival yesterday." Tig spoke up.

"You sure?" Clay asked.

"Yes." They both said firmly.

"Pixie? What about you?" Clay asked. Pixie looked at the image and drew a blank.

"Nope. Never seen this dude in my life, and he definitely wasn't anywhere near Tristen when I last saw her. I would have seen him. All I saw was her go off with that creepy clown dude." Pixie explained.

"What made him creepy?" Juice asked.

"His makeup was all smudged, looked like he'd wiped off a first set and then reapplied way too hastily. He also had this weird smirky-smile."

A lightbulb suddenly went off in Tig's head. "The dunk tank clown. His makeup came off in the water when we dunked him under for saying that shit to Jax."

Bobby's eyebrows raised. "Was the clown wearing red?"  
Pixie nodded. "Yeah. His suit was dry though."  
"Could have had a spare?" Bobby added. "It does sound like him though."

"I say we track down Johnny Yates, check him, if he doesn't have anything to do with it, we go talk to the carnies and find that clown bozo." Clay declared. His phone rang and he picked it up, answered it and grinned.

"Darby's up at St Thomas." Clay said getting up and turning to Juice. "Finish prepping the AK's, put 'em in the duffels, full clips." He instructed.

"Got it." Juice nodded.

"Hey. Put these in my locker." Tig instructed, handing Juice the baggie full of sleeping pills.

"What are they?" Juice asked, looking confused.

"Vitamins, vitamins." Tig said hurriedly. He turned to Pixie and put his hand on her shoulder. "You okay here, doll?"

Pixie nodded. "Give 'em hell." She grinned and stretched up to give him a quick kiss to his cheek.

"Do I get one?" Bobby joked, Pixie rolled her eyes and giggled.

"You can have a hug?" She offered, Bobby considered it and then pulled her in for a good hug.

"Come on, we got shit to do." Clay grumbled. Bobby let go of Pixie and he and Tig hurried over to the bike racks. Juice and Pixie watched them go.

"Pixie and Tiggy sittin' in a tree" Juice sang wiggling his eyebrows at Pixie.

"Oh hush up, don't you have some AK's to be prepping?" Pixie grinned.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G." Juice sang as he dodged Pixie's swipe and jogged backwards in the direction of the clubhouse. Pixie giggled and gave him a middle-finger which he reciprocated, laughing as he went inside. Pixie grinned to herself before trudging back to the garage. About an hour later, Pixie decided she needed some lunch so headed across the lot towards the clubhouse, she began to wonder where Juice had got to, he usually came to check on her whenever he had a free moment, and Pixie highly doubted that prepping a duffel bag of AK's was hardly an hour long job. Rock music was playing over the speakers and she spotted the duffel on one of the pool tables. Pixie thought maybe she'd missed him and he'd run off on an errand. Pixie went to her room and sat down to eat some ramen. Whilst she was waiting for the water to boil, she heard the club door burst open.

"Juice? _Juice_? JUICE?" She heard Clay and Tig shout from the main room. There was muffled voices and the door slammed again. Curious, Pixie walked out, noticing that they'd taken the bag. It sounded like the others expected Juice to be back at the clubhouse and since Pixie hadn't seen or heard him, she got worried. Pixie went room to room, checking for Juice until she got to the armoury were the door was ajar, she pushed it open and found Juice, face down on the floor surrounded by bullets and clips, the baggie of pills in one hand. There was a slowly expanding puddle of drool coming out of his open mouth and Pixie cursed. She pushed some of the detritus away and shook him gently.

"Juice? _Juice_! Can you hear me?" After getting no response and checking his vitals, Pixie came to three conclusions. One: Juice was fine, but currently having the best nap of his life, two: Juice hadn't put the clips on the AK's before treating himself to Tig's sleeping pills, and three: Juice was going to be in serious trouble when the others found out. There was no way Pixie was going to be able to dig Juice out of the hole he'd gotten himself into, so she decided to bite the bullet and warn the others. She snapped a picture of Juice on the floor with the clips and sent it to Jax.

P: <image> R U with C,B&T? Stupid here didn't pack AK clips, found him like dis.

J.T: Yep we r fukin screwed

P: I could ride 2 U w. clips?

J.T: No stay put. C U Soon

P: Gd luk

Pixie put her phone in her pocket, cursed again and decided she may as well try to clear up some of the mess Juice had made in the armory, starting with the big idiot himself. Pixie knew there was no way she was going to be able to carry Juice, he was too much of a deadweight, she opted for tying his boot laces together and using them as a handle to drag him out of the room and into hers, she thought he could sleep off the rest of his drug-induced nap out of the way there.

"Geez, buddy, you're in so much trouble when you wake up. Clay is gonna kill you." Pixie muttered as she heaved and began dragging him along. Juice snorted and coughed, then went limp again. Pixie rolled her eyes. She finally reached her room and rolled him into the recovery position so he could breathe easier and went back to work.

☠️☠️☠️

"Pixie?" Jax shouted as he came through the clubhouse door with Clay, Bobby, Tig and Happy. Pixie walked out of the utility room and rushed over to them.

"You all okay?" She asked looking over group.

"Yeah we're fine, turned out Johnny Yates is now part of a christian commune, he's a reformed man, he didn't hurt Tristen." Jax explained.

"Where's the idiot?" Clay grunted.

"In my room, did you have to fight?"  
"No, the Christians were compliant, thankfully." Bobby commented.

"In hindsight, Juice might have done you guys a solid then, imagine if you'd opened fire on them." Pixie said, Tig caught the slightly hopeful tone in her voice. He wrapped his arms around her.

"I know you love Juice, but he really screwed up. We can't let him off the hook that easily."

Pixie sighed. "I know, I should have followed him when he went inside to sort the AK's instead of finishing up on the garage."  
"You can't possibly be putting his bullshit on yourself, Pixie, c'mon." Jax said.

"I feel responsible though, he's like a brother to me." Pixie insisted.

"You've got a good heart, baby girl." Tig said gently kissing her temple.

"So, if that christian dude didn't hurt Tristen, does that mean the clown guy did?" Pixie asked, looking up at the guys.

"We can't know for sure unless Tristen tells, and for the moment, she's saying she doesn't remember anything." Clay said running a hand through his hair.   
"Did she say that, or did her parents?" Pixie mused.

"Parents, you think they're covering?" Jax raised an eyebrow.

Pixie nodded. "They probably don't want her to relive what she went through over and over again to the cops and the media, but that's got to be killing her. Stuff like that needs to be out in the open, it only becomes more terrifying when you can't speak about it."

"She's not gonna want to talk to anyone of us though, I mean we don't exactly scream 'cuddly'." Jax said.

"I could try? We got on really well at the fair, it might do her some good to speak to a friendly face." Pixie said, looking hopefully at Clay.

Clay weighed his options carefully. "Alright, Jax, Tig, take Pixie up to the hospital, try and get her in to see Tristen. Everyone else, get your weapons ready because tonight, someone's paying for what they did to that girl." Clay nodded. A mixture of emotions erupted within Pixie, on the one hand she was elated that Clay was finally giving in and letting her get involved, but on the other, she was going to have to prepare herself for avenging Tristen. Either way, she was going to do her best to be there for her, and to let the poor girl know that someone was in her corner and understood to an extent, what it was like to be in that situation.

"You ready to go now?" Jax asked, bringing Pixie out of her thoughts.

"Yup. Is there a florist in town or on the way? I kinda want to get Tristen something that helped me through some shit." Pixie explained quickly.

Tig smiled. "Yeah, I know a place. That's real sweet that you want to do something for her."

"It's the least I can do. Let me grab my backpack and I'm all set." Pixie nodded and ran off to her dorm.

Jax and Tig exchanged a glance. "You think she's gonna be able to go through with the kill?" Jax asked.

Tig sighed. "I trust her, there's a lot of fire under the sweet surface. She's just a little lost in her head."

Jax nodded. "A'ight." He spotted Pixie coming back out and headed for the door.

"Are we driving or riding?" Pixie looked up at her two companions.

"Riding, that okay?" Jax asked.

"That's perfect, I really need to think." Pixie grinned. She grabbed her helmet off the handlebars of her bike and put it on, she started up her bike, giving it a few revs before pulling down her visor. Tig and Jax started up their bikes and headed out of the lot with Pixie tailing them. They rode in the triangular formation through Charming until Tig signalled to pull over at the florists. Pixie took off her helmet and looked at the other two.

"Can I do an 'I owe you'?" She asked hopefully.

Jax nodded and handed her a twenty dollar bill. She smiled in thanks and walked in. A moment or two later, Pixie emerged with a white rose bouquet protruding from her backpack. She gave the change to Jax. "White roses?" He queried.

"They represent honour, reverence, innocence, and remembrance. One of the Sons gave me a bouquet after I went through some shit. He said 'cry for the innocence lost, remember the person you were and honour them by becoming stronger', It stuck with me and it's part of the reason my crow has a rose in its beak. To me, the rose represents balance between beauty and defence, fragility and strength. You can be both, and still be gorgeous and whole." Pixie explained.

"That's beautiful, doll." Tig said, taken aback by this little revelation.

Jax nodded. "I like that a lot. I think Tristen will too."

Pixie smiled and pulled on her helmet, signifying that she was ready to leave. The guys got ready and the group set off again.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	22. Fun Town Episode: Chapter 7

**WARNING: CHAPTER CONTAINS MENTION OF GORE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT.**

They reached the hospital quickly and went looking for Tristen's room. They reached the paediatric wing and Jax decided it would be best if they went looking for Gemma first, she was bound to know where Tristen was. Pixie didn't like this idea but kept quiet, following along behind the boys until they reached the NICU. They found Gemma reading to tiny Abel in his incubator.

"That's my son." Jax pointed out to Tig and Pixie.

"He's gorgeous, Jax." Pixie smiled, gently rubbing his arm. Gemma looked up to see the trio through the window and got up.

"Thought you guys were on a hunt." She queried as she opened the door.

"Hit a dead end." Jax sighed. "We're following a hunch of Pixie's but we need to talk to Tristen."

Gemma didn't like that explanation one bit, so she ignored it. "The junkie's awake." She said with a scowl. Tig and Pixie suddenly became very interested in a poster on fetal development.

"Don't call her that." Jax said with an exasperated scowl that mirrored Gemma's.

"Alright. Sorry." Gemma sighed.

"You really think he can hear you?" Jax asked, gesturing to Abel.

"Yeah, I do." Gemma said with a warm smile, looking at her grandson.

The corridor door suddenly opened and Elliot Oswald appeared. Pixie's heart ached as soon as she saw his face. He looked like a lost soul, completely destroyed and barely holding himself together. Gemma went back into the NICU room, knowing her time was up with her son for the time being.

"Did you find the guy?" Elliot murmured, stepping closer to the group.

Jax shook his head. "No, not yet. We need to talk to your daughter."

"Tristen doesn't remember anything after the ride." Elliot hissed.

"Got to dig a little deeper." Jax insisted. "I mean, we need somethin'. Like, did the guy have a car? Was he black? Was he white? A clown?" Jax questioned.

Pixie watched Elliot's face carefully, as soon as the word 'clown' left Jax's mouth, Pixie saw the light of recognition in Elliot's eyes and her heart plummeted. Tristen had to have told them about the clown and now they were hiding the truth.

"She's still in shock." Elliot said sharply, revealing the nerve Jax had touched with his questions. Jax was on the same wavelength as Pixie, but he knew he needed more proof than just Elliot's mannerisms. Elliot took a breath to steady his temper. "Karen just wants her to rest."

Jax pushed forwards. "Look man, Tristen's our only shot at finding this asshole. If you want our help..." Jax trailed off, knowing he'd already made his case.

Elliot shook his head. "I'll talk to Karen, she's outside." He looked deep into Jax's eyes. " _You find him._ " Elliot said firmly. With tears in his eyes, he stormed out of the corridor.

"Follow him." Jax murmured. Pixie was out in a flash, following him just far enough back that she could spot him, but he wouldn't see her. Back on the corridor, Jax put his head round the door to the NICU and looked at Gemma.

"Try and talk to Karen, see if you can keep her away for a while." Jax instructed. Gemma nodded and grabbed her bag, following Jax and Tig out before separating off and making for the exit. Jax and Tig kept walking in the direction they'd seen Pixie and Elliot go, keeping a lookout for Pixie's candy floss coloured kutte. Pixie made it back to the wing and sat down in the waiting area watching the room Elliot went into out of her peripheral vision. He left a moment later and disappeared into the elevator. Seizing her chance, Pixie pulled the flowers from her backpack and slipped through the door.

Tig spotted her just as the door closed. "There she goes."

☠️☠️☠️

Jax and Tig were starting to get a little antsy. Pixie had been in the room with Tristen for a while now, and they knew Gemma could only stall for so long. Jax had managed to sneak down to the lot and slash Hale's tyres, trying to buy the club a little time to find the guy before Hale was able to. When he returned, they stood in front of the door in tense silence. Tig was just about to knock on the door when it opened and Pixie stormed out.

"I'm killing that motherfucker." She seethed. Tig caught a glimpse of Pixie's eyes, they were void of their usual sparkle and a deep darkness had set in, it looked almost like how she'd changed in the ring with Jax, but so much worse. The men hurried after her, trying to keep pace.

"Hey, you know who did it?" Jax asked quickly as they reached the stairwell.  
"I've known all along, I just needed confirmation." Pixie ground out.

"The clown?" Tig verified.

"Attacked her, wig and all."

"Fucking hell." Tig growled. They reached the doors to the outside and Pixie burst out stalking over to her bike. She was off before the guys could even start up their engines and they had to speed to catch up. Jax spotted Hale in his jeep across the lot, they made uneasy eye contact before Jax drove after Pixie. They were at the clubhouse in record time and Pixie stormed through the clubhouse doors.

"We need to go to the carnival, _now."_ Pixie said darkly.

Clay took one look at her and knew she wasn't messing around. This was the fire he'd seen burning underneath her skin.

"Get the van, you heard the girl." He ordered.

Chibs almost didn't recognise Pixie as she stormed past him to her room, then reappeared a second later with a pastel pink holster belt with two guns resting against each hip. He reached out and grabbed her arm.

"You in there, lass?" He murmured. She didn't meet his gaze for long, but long enough for Chibs to see the kind of head-space she was in. Pixie was out for blood and she wouldn't rest until she'd taken down her target. Pixie nodded quickly and then pulled free. As she moved, he spotted under her kutte was a pink leather bandolier harness with a series of throwing knives in sheaths. Chibs thought he ought to question it, but decided that Pixie was most definitely _not_ in the mood for queries, so he chugged the last of his beer, grabbed his gun, and followed his kid. In the lot, Half-Sack pulled up with the van as the others exited the clubhouse.

"Pixie, you're riding in the van, Half-Sack, you're driving." Clay instructed. He powered up his bike and the group set off in formation with Clay and Jax taking the lead, Tig and Bobby close behind, Chibs and Happy just behind them, and lastly the van. 

Half-Sack could feel the anger radiating off of Pixie who sat silently next to him. He didn't dare say a word and instead watched her out the corner of his eye as she pulled one of the throwing knives from its strap and began twirling it around in her fingers effortlessly. The movement was simultaneously one of the coolest and scariest things Half-Sack had seen for a while. They reached the carnival and Pixie was out before Half-Sack had even pulled the handbrake up, let alone stopped the van from moving completely. Pixie stormed off and the others scrambled to catch up with her, Jax got there first, then Tig and Clay with the rest making a formidable group at the rear. As they walked past the generator for the lights, Jax flipped it up, letting the carnival workers know that there was trouble. As the group rounded the corner, they heard shouts as the workers spotted them.

"Heard you guys are harbouring a fugitive." Jax said cockily.

"What're you gonna do about it?" the leader asked, squaring up to Jax. He was an older guy, with a white bushy moustache and unkempt hair around the sides of his head.

"Citizen's arrest." Jax smirked before throwing the first blow, his fist connected with the leader's face, and the older man doubled over in pain. The fight exploded from there, each worker being matched with a Son. Pixie ducked and weaved through the bodies after taking down an Asian man, her eyes scanning for her target. Cries of pain and "GET HIM!" Could be heard from all sides.

"Pixie, Chibs, find him!" Clay roared as he dealt with his partner. Chibs finished with his attacker who was now a pulp of bruises and blood on the floor and he looked for Pixie's kutte, he spotted it as she made to go around the end of a trailer, but was blocked by a greasy looking man who threw a lucky punch, catching Pixie square in the jaw. Blood sprayed in the air as her bottom lip busted open. Before she even had time to react, Tig pounced on the guy, sinking his teeth into the guy's ear in utter rage, ripping off a chunk as the guy went down, screaming in pain and shock. Tig spat it out, then was off taking out the next threat. Pixie managed to get away this time and Chibs followed along after as she hunted for the clown. She spotted a trailer marked "Entertainers" and looked to Chibs in silent communication. He threw the door open and the two of them jumped in. They spotted the guy, still with remnants of clown makeup on his face, cowering in the corner in a brown shirt and jeans, holding a cushion of all things. Pixie flew at him, grabbing him by his hair and heaving him upright. Before the guy could scream, Chibs pulled out his bandanna and tied it into a makeshift gag around the man's head. He helped haul the guy out of the trailer, with Pixie holding a knife to his throat to make him comply. They dragged him back to the chaos of Sons and carnival workers.

"Clay! We got him, let's go!" Chibs bellowed over the hubbub. The Sons disengaged with the workers as soon as they were able to. Bobby had to pull Jax off of his opponent as he had gone berserk, the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He jumped up threw his hands up in the air in victory.

"Yeah!" He whooped. It felt like the past couple of weeks the club had been suffering blow after blow, so it felt amazing to be finally getting something right. Chibs and Pixie hog-tied the clown, throwing him into the back of the van as everyone hastily got ready to go before Hale managed to catch up to them. The group travelled to a remote road out in the backwoods of Charming where they unloaded the clown into a leaf-covered ditch where they were unlikely to be seen by passers-by. Clay made the call to Elliot Oswald whilst the gang waited for the next step. Clay came over to where Pixie was stood, staring up at the moon.

"You remember our deal here, Pixie." Clay said to her in a low voice.

"Yes, that's why I'm here." Pixie replied grimly.

"If you don't kill him, Happy will do it, and you'll surrender your kutte."

Pixie's head snapped up. "I know the stakes here, you don't have to fucking remind me."

"Good." Clay said giving her one of his signature grins that oozed aggression before he strode away. Pixie could feel her anger reaching its limits and she threw one of her knives, watching it sink into a tree branch in front of her before pulling it out and returning it to it's sheath. She turned around to see Happy observing her, an unreadable expression on his face. She nodded to him and walked back to where the others were standing, waiting for Elliot to arrive. Chibs and Bobby were holding the clown still, keeping him upright. A fancy black Mercedes Benz pulled up on the road, and Elliot stormed out, clutching a knife with a curved edge. He came quickly down the hill towards the crowd in the ditch. Clay looked over at him and back at the evil clown.

"Here's the scumbag that raped your little girl." Clay announced. Elliot was seething with rage as he stormed up to the captor. The clown shook his head, pleading with him from under the gag. Pixie could feel herself tensing up, like a compressed spring, ready to pounce on the guy. Sensing this, a strong, grounding hand came down on her shoulder and held it tightly. She looked up to see Happy who was staring down at her intently.

"Cattle guys call this an 'Elsie maker'. It's used to cut the balls off of bulls. Strip him." Elliot snarled.

The evil clown screamed in protest, trying to fight Bobby and Chibs off of him, but to no avail. Jax and Tig watched on, ready to help if required. Chibs grabbed both of the man's arms as Bobby ripped the clowns button up shirt open and pulled his jeans down. "God, what is that?" He said in disgust as he spotted the fresh scratches and nail marks on the clown's stomach and torso, remnants of his assault on Tristen.

Elliot started breathing heavily, gearing himself up for the kill. Pixie eyed him, seeing the sweat on his temples the way he couldn't meet the eyes of the clown and the way he shifted from foot to foot. He wasn't going to go through with it. She could see his internal battle playing out in his eyes. There were tears brimming there and he looked up to Clay, pleading.

"What do you want to do here, Elliot?" Clay murmured threateningly. Elliot gasped, becoming short of breath, a panic attack was brewing. "We had a deal." Clay reminded him. The clown kept crying out, moaning and praying, and Pixie knew this was getting to Elliot. Elliot held the knife out, hands shaking as he moved it towards the clown, then gasped again and dropped it. Guilt spread across his face at the realisation that he couldn't go through with taking out the monster who hurt his only child. Under all the rage, Pixie felt sorry for the guy, wished she could say something to him, but she was too far gone in her head-space, all her emotions except for anger were on lock-down, there was no way she could comfort him, not until she'd completed her mission.

"I'm sorry." Elliot said quickly to Clay. "I'm sorry. I-I-I can't. I-I..." He mumbled. He turned away and hurried back to his car. The group watched him go, then looked to Clay for the next instruction. Clay pulled out a pair of latex gloves from his pocket and put them on, picking up the knife.

"Hold him still." Clay ordered, moving forwards to the clown, who began screaming in protest again.

"Clay! _Clay_!" Jax barked, unsure of what Clay was up to. This wasn't part of the plan, he'd been told. He thought if Elliot backed down, it was then the club's responsibility to step in, with dread in his gut, he realised Clay put on the gloves so the only prints on there would be Oswald's. Clay was setting him up, or at least in the process of doing so. Jax looked away as Clay began to cut, not wanting that mental image seared into his brain. The howls of agony were enough for him.

"Pixie, Happy, get over here." Clay barked as he finished castrating the man. Happy took his hand off of Pixie's shoulder and the two stalked forwards. Happy moved behind the clown as Pixie took her place in front. Clay looked down at the lumps of flesh on the dirt floor and then at Half-Sack. "Put those in a bag, gift wrap 'em." Clay then held the knife out to Jax. "Put this in a bag, make sure you don't touch it. It's got Oswald's prints all over it."

Jax looked at Clay in frustration and disgust. "What the hell are we doing here?" He demanded, wanting to know why Clay was determined to drag Oswald down into this. Hadn't the guy suffered enough?

Clay studied his step-son's face. "Taking out some real-estate insurance. Makin' sure Oswald doesn't sell off those tracts of lumber acreage."

Jax shook his head. "So you had this planned? Whether Oswald had the nerve or not, this whole hunt was about blackmail?" He spat.

"Well, actually, the leverage was just a fortunate by-product of my _community spirit_." Clay said. He motioned for Tig to take the knife instead and Tig put on gloves and took it, watching Jax and Clay carefully as Half-Sack passed him a zip-lock bag.

"Hey. You want me to be your number two, protect this club? Then I gotta know where you're taking us, otherwise, there's no trust. And if you and me don't trust each other, then Samcro has got a problem."

Clay grunted, not liking how Jax was questioning him. "If Oswald's land goes commercial, that means housing development. Population rises, brings more cops, more state and federal involvement. Charming goes disney, and Samcro gets squeezed out by the most dangerous gang of all: old white money." Clay explained, his voice low and serious. Jax nodded. "Now you know." 

He turned back to the others. "Pixie, shoot him." He barked the order. Pixie drew her gun from her right holster and held it out towards the evil man who hurt her friend. She aimed, cocked it and focused her mind on her target. Suddenly in her mind, she wasn't seeing the bastard anymore, in his place Bruce was held between Chibs and Bobby. His green eyes stared up at her, pleading and she felt bile rise in her throat. _No!_ She told herself, trying to snap out of it. She thought of her Highton family and her friends, those who had been taken out by Jimmy O. She brought herself back to the present, saw the clown's evil face and thought of Tristen.

" _Shoot him_!" Clay snapped.

 ***Bang*** ***Bang***

Pixie fired a single bullet into the clown's chest, aiming for his heart. At the exact same time she fired, Happy fired too, his shot hitting the clown in the back, his bullet ending up tearing through the man's heart as well. Pixie looked up at Happy.

"Why'd you fire?" She snarled.

"Weren't sure you were gonna." He said with a look of surprise on his face.

"Well I did."

"You did." He echoed her. Happy felt an odd sense of pride when he looked at Pixie, her eyes deadly, gun in one hand. She had serious fire inside of her and it was then, Happy decided that Pixie would make a good protege.

Pixie turned to Clay. "I did what you asked."

Clay grunted. "Barely. I think Happy's bullet finished him off." He said looking down at the deceased and bloody monster.

Pixie's eyes flashed dangerously as she stalked towards him. "I fired at the same time as Happy. Our bullets hit his heart together." She snarled. Chibs could see Pixie was at the end of her tether and Clay was purposely pushing her buttons to see what she'd do about it.

"I think you missed." He smirked at her, challenging her.

Pixie smiled venomously and looked up at the sky for a second before putting her attention back on Clay. "You can fuck right off with that theory. Give me your wallet and I'll prove I didn't." Pixie said, squaring up to him.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Give me your _fucking_ wallet." Pixie hissed. Clay looked at her for a second, then pulled it out.

"If you shoot it , you're reimbursing me for double."

Pixie laughed humorlessly. "Hell, if I hit your wallet, I'll hand you my kutte and reimburse you for triple." She announced. She stalked over to where a tree had been felled and only it's stump remained. She searched the leaves for a second, finding a rusty tin can someone had discarded and put it on the stump too, propping Clay's wallet up in front of it, so only a few centimetres of the can could be seen over the top. Pixie backed up to roughly the same distance she had stood in front of the clown and aimed. The others came hurriedly over to see the outcome. Pixie fired.

The tin can was propelled off the top of the stump, knocking Clay's wallet up into the air a little way before plopping back onto the stump. The tin can disappeared backwards into the leaves below it. Pixie put her gun back in its holster as Tig went looking for the can. He found it, picking it up, so everyone could see the semi-circle the bullet had made in the can's top edge just millimetres above where Clay's wallet had been. Pixie marched forwards, taking the wallet and the can and strode over to Clay, roughly smacking both items against his chest.

"I don't fucking miss." Pixie snarled. She moved past him towards the van as the others looked at each other in disbelief.

"That was fucking _incredible_." Tig said looking at the others who nodded in equal amounts of amazement. If Pixie could make such an accurate shot in the dim light, then that would have to make her one of the best, if not the best marksman Samcro had. Chibs inspected the can as Clay passed it to him, putting his wallet back into his jeans.

"That lass is exactly what this club needs." Chibs said to him firmly.

Clay grunted. "Prospects, bury the body in the woods and mark the grave. Meet us back at the clubhouse when you're done." He called out. Pixie already had a shovel in one hand and passed Half-Sack the second one out of the back of the van. Tig and Chibs made their way over to them.

"Hey." Tig said as Pixie moved past him, he reached for her, pulling her back to face him. " _Hey._ "

Pixie finally met his gaze. "Yeah?"

"You okay?" Tig asked gently.

Pixie shrugged. "I will be."

Chibs didn't like that response. "It's okay if you aren't, lassie. We've got you."

"I'm fine. I need to do my job."

"Want us to stay?" Tig offered, he pushed some loose strands of hair away from her face comfortingly.

Pixie shook her head. "No, I'm fine, we'll be back soon enough."

"Well, come here then, angel." Tig pulled her to him, holding her tight, he beckoned for Chibs to join, knowing Pixie needed to feel as much support as possible. Chibs wrapped his arms around her back, feeling how tense and stiff she was in his arms. Pixie was not doing good, he could tell her mind was in an intensely dark place and he wished he could be there with her. After a second, Pixie relaxed into them, her hands white-knuckled on Tig's kutte, clinging to him like a life-raft. She let go sooner than any of them would have liked and broke free.

"I've got to go." Was all she said, walking off to where Half-Sack was standing, waiting for her. Tig and Chibs looked at each other with grim expressions on their faces as they started up their bikes and followed the convoy home.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	23. Fun Town Episode: Chapter 8

The prospects found a secluded patch in a dried-out river bed that would be suitable for the grave as there were less tree roots to contend with. Pixie took off her kutte, hanging it on a tree branch and began to dig, Half-Sack followed suit, eyeing her warily. They dug in silence until Half-Sack couldn't take it any longer.

"Pixie?" He asked, his own voice startling him, it sounded so loud compared to the silence of the forest and the distant cicadas. Pixie looked up.

"Yeah?"

"You both scare and fascinate me, I just thought I'd let you know." Half-Sack admitted.

Pixie smiled. "Thanks, mate. I think you do the same for me."

Half-Sack looked taken aback. "Really? I don't think I scare people. I'm a bit of a push over." He said glumly. "But you, you don't take shit from nobody. That I respect."

"Well, I think you think too little of yourself, mate. You're a good fighter, I saw you take down that guy at the carnival, that was cool."

"Really?"

"Hell yeah, dude."

"I'm nothing compared to you though, I have too many weaknesses. I mean shit, I miss half the time I shoot a gun and you did that _amazing_ shot."

Pixie stopped digging. "You stop talking like that right now, you hear me? Your weaknesses are what make you strong. They make you human. Having weaknesses gives you the drive to improve, to do better. If you had no weaknesses, you would have no passion, and you wouldn't be as good of a person as you are. Use your perceived weaknesses as your advantages."

"What do you mean?" Half-Sack said, puzzled.

"For instance, I'm short, that makes me faster and harder to hit in the ring than you big burly guys. I can't run fast, so I learnt to stay put and battle it out. I'm emotional, that makes me protective and kind and makes me determined to make the people I care about feel good. I have issues with authority, so I speak up when I see an issue or a problem and I stand up for others who need someone in their corner, I make myself a good leader."

"I think I get it." Half-Sack said, thinking. "What do I do with the fact that I'm scrawny, shy, and stupid?" Half-Sack chuckled sadly. "There isn't much you can do."

"Oh yes there is, buddy." Pixie said adamantly. "So you're skinny, that makes you fast, use your speed for running and fighting. You will automatically have the upper hand on heavier opponents, they'll be slower, so if you stay one step ahead of them, you'll be able to see openings and land hits faster than they can move. Remember my fight with Jax? I was lucky I didn't end up fighting you or Juice as we'd be more evenly matched and I'd have to focus more on using my strength, rather than my speed."

"I-I didn't think of it like that." Half-Sack said, taken aback.

"Next, you said you're shy? That's really good. That makes you a natural observer, use that and you'll pick up on nuances and situations faster than the louder guys in the group. You'll be better at stealth and tailing people because you're naturally quiet and opt for spaces where people won't see you. You're also naturally cautious, you won't leap head first into a situation where you don't know people or the risk factors and you weigh your options better."

"That's true. You're really good at this." He grinned.

"I'm not done yet." Pixie smiled. "Lastly, you think you're stupid? Trust me, you're way smarter than you give yourself credit for. Just because you aren't book-smart, or don't have the worldly experience of some of the other Sons, doesn't make you stupid. It just means you have more space to learn. You're also smart in other areas too, you're streetwise, otherwise you wouldn't be a Son, prospect or not. You're good with weapons and machinery, that means you're good at doing runs, knowing the limits of the vehicle you're driving and the weapons you may have to use. You were a soldier too, that makes you disciplined, brave, and knowledgeable on the battlefield. You'll automatically look for trouble and see threats way faster than some of the other Sons who have never served."

Half-Sack looked at Pixie like he was seeing her for the first time. This kid just came and completely upended his world and put it back together in a matter of minutes. "How...how do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Just waltz into people's lives like that and make them better in a matter of minutes? I've seen you do this to the others, Tig, Juice, Chibs. Since you've been here, they've become happier, hell I haven't seen Tig smile this much since I joined, and Chibs, he walks around with a smile on his face, watches you with pride and care. And Juice, that dude's got issues, but he doesn't seem as tense or sad."

"Told you you were observant." Pixie smiled. "It's just who I am. I can never know what it's like to be in someone's shoes, but I know for certain that if I'm in a bad place, it would mean a whole lot if someone reached out and supported me, even just for a moment, so I try to do that for anyone and everyone, no matter what they're going through. The only reason I can kill is because I see victim's at their worst, at their most terrified and I feel an overwhelming rage and a duty to protect them, to avenge them and to make their lives a little less scary knowing that the person that hurt them, can never do it again, to them, or to anyone else."

"But it tears you apart inside. I saw that look in your eyes when you fired and watched the clown die. You felt guilt after you'd completed what you set out to do. You don't want to hurt people, but you don't want innocents to hurt even more. You try to take everyone's burdens on as your own. I heard you trying to cover for Juice, and I know that when we're done here, no matter how tired you are, you're going to try and take care of him, aren't you?"

Pixie looked at Half-Sack and then nodded. "You got me there. Those are my weaknesses, but they're also my strengths." She let out a breath and looked up at the stars. "How are you unable to see your strengths, yet you're able to make all of those assessments that require intelligence, observation and compassion? You're a good guy, Half-Sack."

"You're a good kid, too, Pixie."

"Those other guys really give you shit, don't they?" Pixie said, an idea forming.

"The Sons? Oh yeah. I thought the army was bad, but those guys rip into me like fresh meat in a shark tank."

"You feel like causing a little chaos and earning their respect in the process?" Pixie asked.

"Of course, but how?"

"Let me let you in on a little secret." Pixie said, pulling up her right trouser leg, showing Half-Sack her prosthetic. "You know where we can get some fake blood around here?"

Half-Sack looked confused for a second, then a grin slowly crossed his face. "I can definitely find some."

"Okay, find some, then come to me when you're ready for a little fun." Pixie grinned mischievously. Talking to Half-Sack had helped bring her back out of her head-space and calm her down. She was glad she'd been able to help Half-Sack in the process as well.

☠️☠️☠️

After a while, the pair managed to dig a deep enough hole to fit the body in. They put on gloves and they dragged the body to it and pushed it over the edge unceremoniously. Half-Sack looked at the body and felt disgust at what the man had done in his life. He spat into the hole and Pixie did the same. They covered it up and Pixie found a broken plank of wood. She took one of her knives and Half-Sack watched as she carved "A-S-S-H-O-L-E" into it, then plunged it into the head of the grave, patting the dirt around it to keep the plank upright. The two stood back and looked at their handiwork and Half-Sack couldn't help but start to chuckle.

"Can't believe you did that." He grinned, pointing to the wood.

"Well Clay said to mark the grave, but the monster didn't deserve a traditional cross or grave marker."  
"That's true, c'mon then, we've wasted enough time on that asshole." Half-Sack grinned, putting his arm out, Pixie walked towards him and he wrapped it around her shoulders as they walked out of the woods.

"You know what?" Pixie grinned.

"What?"  
"I don't think I'm going to call you Half-Sack anymore. You deserve more respect than that, and I consider you a friend."

"My real name's Kip, but only my mom calls me that anymore."

"How about I call you H?"  
"I like that. Thanks." He grinned at her.

"No worries, H." Pixie smiled. Half-Sack helped her up the steep incline to the road, the pair of them going into a fit of laughter after Pixie tripped on a root and ended up falling on Half-Sack, sending them both sliding back down the hill. Now covered in dirt, they finally made it into the van and Pixie fiddled around with the radio, finding a station that played songs they both knew. They sang all the way back, teasing each other and joking about anything that was on their mind. When they finally got to the clubhouse, they were both exhausted but happy.

"Thanks for pulling me out of the darkness." Pixie said to him as they walked to the doors, Half-Sack had his arm wrapped around her again.

"Thanks for making me think differently about myself." He smiled. "You know, considering we just buried a body, this was a pretty good end to a god awful day."

"Definitely. The next time I need to bury a body, you're top of my list for people I'd ask to help me do it."

"I'm glad you didn't just leave that at 'you're top of my list'. I got worried for a second there." Half-Sack laughed.

Pixie realised what he meant and burst out laughing. "H! No, I don't want to kill you, I swear."

"Are you sure? You already tried with that pillow." He chuckled. They opened the door and walked in to see Jax, Clay, Chibs, Happy and Tig loitering on the couches.

"Hey, you guys made it back. You hide the body?" Jax asked.

"Yup, asshole's dead and buried." Pixie nodded.

"Good job tonight, prospects." Clay nodded.

"Thanks, play-doh." Pixie grinned. Clay growled, but said nothing. Chibs got up from the couches and walked over to Pixie.

"I see you're feeling a little better then, lass?" He cupped her face gently.

Pixie smiled and nodded. "H made me feel better and we had a good talk."

"Thanks, lad." Chibs said patting Half-Sack on the back.

"No worries, if anything, Pixie helped me, more than I helped her." Half-Sack admitted. He yawned widely. "Anyways, I'm gonna tap out for tonight, I'm exhausted and I have a morning shift tomorrow." He sighed.

Pixie looked up at him. "Want me to cover? I'm not in until the afternoon."

Half-Sack rolled his eyes. "Pixie, you're exhausted just like me, I'm good, go get your rest." Half-Sack insisted with a smile. He said his goodbyes and then headed out the door. Pixie removed her bandolier and holster, putting them down on a table so she could start to relax.

"Wait! What happened to the cops I gave the coffees to?" Pixie suddenly remembered.

Tig laughed. "They're at the station in their squad car. Jax and I returned them whilst you and Sack were digging."

"And Juice?"

"Still snoring in your room. We'll deal with him in the morning. Bobby and I have plans."

"They better be good ones. I want Juice to remember the consequences to royally fucking up." Clay added.

"Oh, trust me, he'll remember all right." Tig said ominously.

"Good, well I need to go home to Gemma. See you fellas tomorrow." Clay said getting up from the couch with a groan.

"Have a good night, play-doh." Pixie said with a cheerful wave as Clay walked out the door, he raised his hand and held up his middle finger in response.

"You know he's gonna kill you one day?" Jax grinned at Pixie's antics.

"Pfft, he'll have to catch me first."

"What, like this?" Jax grinned, making a grab for her. She dodged him laughing as Chibs managed to grab her.

"No! This is mutiny!" Pixie squealed as Jax grabbed her off of Chibs, pulling her into a headlock. Jax laughed as she kicked his ankle, knocking him off balance and using her weight to push him past his centre of gravity and he fell onto the couch. They wrestled with each other until they both fell off the couch and onto the floor, at which point Chibs, Tig and Happy jumped in and pulled them apart.

"Instead of killing each other, why don't you explain to me where you got twelve throwing knives and two guns?" Tig asked pointing to the table where Pixie had put her weapons down.

Pixie shrugged. "I throw knives, it's one of my trademark fighting styles, I'm good with any blade, but those are my favourite. The guns are the ones I used back at Highton. I had both sets of weapons to hand, thankfully, during the massacre, pulled two of those knives out of IRA bodies on the way out. I'm ambidextrous, so the gun in my left holster is completely out of bullets and the right has two left in it. I stowed them away in my backpack before I came because I figured you guys wouldn't take too kindly to me turning up, Lara Croft style in your lot, armed to the teeth. Then I guess you guys just never checked my bag. Big security breach on your part, by the way." Pixie explained.

"Well who would suspect a girl with a pastel pink motorbike to be carrying twelve knives?" Jax grinned.

"Touché." Pixie smiled. She looked over at Chibs, noticing for the first time there was a duffel bag next to his place on the couch. "Are you leaving, Chibs?" Pixie said, smile wavering.

"Aye, lass. I have to go on a run, I'll be back in a couple of days, you'll barely have time to miss me." Chibs smiled, he pulled Pixie in for a warm hug.

"I already do. Who's gonna keep me out of trouble until you're back?"

"Bah, Tig'll just have to be mature for once." Chibs laughed.

"Like that'll happen." Tig chuckled. "I'll keep you safe though."

"You got me too, kid." Jax put in.

"And me." Happy said gruffly from the couch, speaking up for the first time.

Pixie nodded and released Chibs. "When are you going?"

"I'm supposed to be on the road by now, but I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye and checking you were okay." Chibs explained.

"I'm okay, Chibbie. You need to focus on the job." Pixie kissed him on the cheek.

"Good, I'll head off then, you better tell me about anything that happens while I'm gone."

"Pinkie promise." Pixie giggled, Chibs immediately gave his finger for her to twist with hers. "You better stay safe, I want you back in one piece."

"Pinkie promise." Chibs agreed. He kissed her on top of her head, said his farewells and took off on his bike.

"And then there were four." Pixie said.

"Three, I'm heading out too, want to go see my kid." Jax said. "Night guys." He fist-bumped Pixie, Tig and Happy then headed out the door.

"Got any plans for tonight, Hap?" Pixie asked him, plopping down on the couch with Tig.

"Gonna tattoo my smiley face." Happy said lifting his shirt a little to show Pixie his rows of smiley face tattoos.

"I thought you only did those for people you killed." Tig said.

"I do."

"But you and Pixie killed the guy tonight, you didn't do it single handed."

"I still shot him."  
"That was my kill." Pixie argued. "You're the one that fired even though I had it. So if you're insisting on adding to your collection, you better give me a smile because I killed him with you." Pixie said half-teasing, half-indignantly. 

Happy looked hard at Pixie and Tig prepared himself for the possibility of trying to take down Happy in case he launched himself Pixie. Instead, Happy stood up, chugged the last of his beer and then held his hand out to Pixie.

"You serious?" Tig asked him.

"No, he's Happy." Pixie giggled, she took his hand and let Happy pull her up. "So we're getting tattooed tonight?"

Happy nodded. "My gun's in my locker, go sit at the bar."

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	24. Author's Note!

Thank you to everyone who's read up to this point and kindly left kudos! You guys are great! 

Sorry this Chapter set was dark, but it was needed for character development, then next chapter set won't be quite as dark and I hope you enjoy! -Lulu <3


	25. Patch Over Episode: Chapter 1

"Hey, wake up, idiot." A male voice pulled Juice out of his sleep. He could feel the breeze on his bare chest and legs and opened his eyes to see Deputy Hale stood over him, scowling. Hale kicked his shoulder lightly with his boot. "You must've really pissed off your buddies."

Juice looked up at him, confused for a second until he realised there was something in his mouth. He reached up and felt plastic and duct tape and braced himself for the sharp pain as he peeled the object off of him and looked down, he was holding a baby pacifier which had been stuck to his mouth. He looked further down himself and realised he was without any clothes except an adult diaper. On his chest was a piece of cardboard which had been stapled there with the words "SLIGHTLY RETARDED CHILD, PLEASE ADOPT ME" in large black letters. Confusion clouded his brain as the last thing he remembered was getting the clips for the AKs.

"Oh shit." He groaned realising that he was definitely in trouble with the Sons and was currently lying almost completely naked in front of the Charming Police building.

"Mm-hm. Get out of here before I slap an indecent exposure on you." Hale sighed. Juice got up, feeling stiff and sore from sleeping rough.

"I'm sorry, chief. I'm not sure what, uh..." Juice tried to explain himself, but quickly gave up, he had no idea himself, so there was no way he'd be able to tell Hale what happened. "I gotta go." He mumbled. Finding the humour in his situation he continued it with, "I'm late for my eight o'clock feeding." he grinned, hoping Hale would stop glaring at him.

"Uh-huh." Hale said with a look of bewilderment and despair at the Sons antics. Juice realised he was going to have to walk all the way back to the clubhouse across town and sighed. He bit his lip and pulled the sign from his chest, the staples ripping his skin in the four places they'd been put in.

"Ow." He winced as he walked around Hale and began the trek home. He clutched his lower back as he felt the ache there. He was glad he'd been left with his boots on as it meant he wouldn't tear his feet to shreds walking through Charming. As he rounded the corner, out of sight of the police building, he spotted a sight that instantly made him feel better. Pixie was stood leaning against her bike, backpack on with his helmet hanging from her handlebars.

"Need a ride, mi estúpido bebé?" She called out to him with a smirk.

"You know spanish?" He called back as he crossed the road.

"Only enough to pass my GCSEs." Pixie explained with a laugh.

"You mind telling me what the fuck happened?" Juice asked her.

Pixie took off her backpack and pulled out a set of hello kitty band-aids and stuck one on each of the staple cuts to stop him bleeding, then gave him a tissue to wipe his chest down. "You acted like a total idiot and ate pills when you didn't know what they were, they were sleeping pills, by the way." Pixie told him. "Tig and Bobby decided that if you were going to act like a baby and put everything you touch in your mouth, they may as well treat you like one." Pixie reached up and put her hands on either side of his face. "Who's my estúpido bebé?" She said, pretending to coo at him like she would a real baby. Juice rolled his eyes.

"Me." He groaned. "Can we not do this in the middle of the street? I'm basically naked here."

Pixie chuckled. "Here, I brought you sweatpants and a t-shirt." She said passing him her backpack. Juice took the articles of clothing out and quickly put them on, grateful.

"Thank god, you're amazing, Pix."

"I know." She grinned. "I also brought your wallet for you. We have a shopping trip, remember?"

"How long was I out?" Juice asked as he pulled on a grey t-shirt and sweatpants.

"About fourteen hours." Pixie estimated.

"Oh _shit_! What did I miss? Did we kill Yates?"

Pixie shook her head. "It wasn't him, he's a reformed christian now. It was the clown I saw at the carnival, Hap and I killed him." Pixie explained quickly. She gestured to her wrist where Juice could see a fresh tattoo of a smiley face on the inside of her arm, a couple of finger widths below her palm.

"Woah, Happy gave you one of his smiley faces?" Juice asked.

"Obvious question, but yeah."  
"Fuuuuuck." Juice groaned. "I never sorted the AKs."

"Yep. That's why you're an idiot. Not only did you pop pills that weren't yours, you also let Clay, Jax, Bobby, Happy and Tig go to confront Yates without any firepower. They had to use the guns as glorified baseball bats. I gotta say, when you screw up, you screw up spectacularly." Pixie tutted.

"How much trouble am I in?" Juice winced.

"With Tig and the others? They've made peace after babying you. Clay's mad, you're benched for the foreseeable future until he thinks you learnt your lesson."

"Ah, shit. What about you? Are you mad at me?"

Pixie sighed. "Mad? No, but I am disappointed."

Juice winced. "That's even worse. I'm really sorry."

"It's okay, we all have our fuck up moments. You scared the shit out of me though when I found you face down in the artillery room with an open bag of pills in your hand. Thought for sure you'd OD-ed and then I realised that the rest of our brothers were currently going into a hostile situation bullet-less. Thought I was going to lose everyone again." Pixie said honestly.

Juice's heart broke and he wrapped his arms around his little sister figure. "I am so unbelievably sorry, Pixie. I don't even know what came over me."  
"Tig thought you'd mistaken the pills for speed and that's why you took 'em." Pixie said, her voice muffled slightly as her face was currently snuggled into Juice's chest.

Juice took a deep breath. "I'm gonna be completely honest with you, considering you were so open with me just now, which I am intensely proud of you for, by the way." He kissed the top of her head. "I sometimes self-medicate with amphetamines when my head gets too anxious for me to cope, especially when the club's in trouble. I was worried about not being able to find who hurt Tristen and a bunch of other stuff that just piled up."

"Thank you for being honest, Juice." Pixie said hugging him tightly. "Why didn't you come find me and ask for help? I could have helped you."

"Old habits, _cariño_. I'm sorry." Juice said quietly. "I promise, next time my head starts fucking with me, I'm coming straight to you. I should have been there for your first kill. How are you coping?"

"First kill for this club, I've killed eight people in total, nine now, I guess."

"That didn't answer my question." Juice chided.

"I'm coping. Last night was rough. Happy and Tig stayed late, but I sent them away so they'd rest up. You were in my room which helped, I talked to you whilst you snored for a little while, which was nice. Meant I could get things off my chest."

"Well, at least I was there physically, I guess." Juice smiled. "I promise, I'll make this up to you, sis."

Pixie nodded. "Want to have a sleepover tonight?"

Juice gently pushed her back a little. "Do you even have to ask?" He grinned. "Let's go shopping, then we can head back and hope Clay doesn't shoot me."

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie and Juice picked up a couple supplies from the store, making sure that it all fit into her backpack so they could transport their goodies safely. Juice and Pixie has spent their time playing around, hiding from each other in different aisles and trying to find the most bizarre way of mispronouncing the names on the food packets and cheering each other up. Juice loved spending time with Pixie, it was like she'd suddenly become his best friend and knew just what to do to get him to forget his troubles and let loose. Eventually they decided to head back after an hour with Juice riding on the back of Pixie's bike. He thought he rode fast, but Pixie was barely in the upper bounds of the speed limit. Juice got changed and joined his brothers at the bar where the rest of the guys were sat around chatting and relaxing for the first time in days now that the shit-storm seemed to be lessening. Pixie took her place at the bar, scrubbing away at a persistent stain on a tumbler and refilling coffee mugs. The door opened and the group looked up to see Hale walk in, grim-faced.

"Hale? What can we do you for?" Clay grinned.

"I need to talk to the girl at the bar, miss?" Hale beckoned. Pixie looked up from what she was doing and stepped out, walking over to where Hale stood.

"Yes, officer?" Pixie said politely.

"I have a report off of two of my officers of a young female matching your description who gave them a drugged coffee."

Pixie looked shocked. "Really? What was the description?"

Hale checked his notes. "A short, petite woman with black hair in a ponytail, a red bra and blue jeans. Were you working in the garage yesterday?"

Tig made to stand up, but Clay put his hand on his shoulder, silently telling to wait and see what Pixie would do.

"No, officer, I strictly work at the clubhouse, I'm a cleaner here. I wouldn't know the first thing about cars." Pixie explained. "I never wear my hair in a ponytail, it gets in my face too much, so I always braid it," Pixie said gesturing to her plaits. "As for the..." Pixie looked down awkwardly and then back up at Hale, "bra, you're welcome to search my room, but I'll admit I'm a little uncomfortable about an officer of the law asking me what lingerie I wear. Especially so unprovoked like this. I mean, look at me." Pixie said gesturing to her baggy blue shirt and black jeans. "I would never dress so provocatively, especially whilst working at my job."

Hale looked up, his jaw clenching and un-clenching. "I understand, miss, but I have to check these types of allegations. Drugging a cop is a serious offence."

"I'm well aware, officer, it's _awful._ But I can assure you, I spent all day cleaning up."

Hale looked around. "All day? This place looks very clean to me."

Pixie looked at him. "That's because I do my job, sir."

Jax had to physically bite his tongue to stop from laughing. Pixie was beating Hale at his own game and it was hilarious to watch.

Hale frowned. "Can I take your name for my notes?" He asked.

"Of course, its Fu Kaiou." Pixie explained, completely straight-faced, even managing to maintain her looks of concern and innocence. Bobby cleared his throat to mask his chuckle.

"Excuse me?" Hale asked.

"Fu Kaiou, it's french-Asian, my adopted parents gave it to me." Pixie explained with a smile.

Hale wasn't sure how to respond. "Are you serious?"

Pixie looked shocked. "Why would I lie to you, officer? That's my name. I can show you my ID's, but again, this conversation feels highly inappropriate. Not only have you accused me of drugging your officers, but also dressing provocatively, and lying about my name, when all I've done is be completely honest and compliant with you, whilst taking time out of my job to answer these unfounded questions."

Hale could feel a vein in his temple throbbing as he tried to keep his composure. "My apologies, miss, how would I spell your name?"

"F-U," Pixie paused. "K-A-I-O-U. Can I answer any more questions?"

Hale sighed, knowing that if he even tried to write up this report he'd be the laughing stock of the county. "No, that will be all, good day, miss Kaiou." Hale said through gritted teeth. He stormed out of the building and the clubhouse erupted in laughter.

"That was fucking brilliant." Jax grinned, grabbing Pixie in a loose headlock. "How did you even manage to say that with a straight face?"

Pixie giggled, relieved that she hadn't landed herself in hot water. "I knew he was just fishing, so I just went for it."

" _Fu Kaiou_." Bobby gasped, laughing so hard he had to wipe the tears from his eyes. "That shit's hilarious."

"I love this kid so much." Half-Sack grinned.

"You don't even understand how hard that was to play it cool." Juice said when he could finally stand up straight.

Tig grabbed Pixie and swung her around before giving her a hug. "I'm so fucking proud of you, oh my god, I wish everyone had been here to witness it. Chibs' would've exploded." He said still laughing.

"The thing is, he can't even do anything about the fact I straight up lied to his face. He can't file that report if he wants to keep his badge. So even if he does find out that Chibs isn't french-Asian, there's nothing he can do about it. Plus that vague description could have been talking about any woman in Charming, I mean seriously?" Pixie explained.

"Who's gonna tell Chibs his new nationality?" Clay chuckled. "I gotta admit, you've got some serious balls, you've really proven yourself with the events of yesterday and now this today."

"Thanks-"

"Don't you dare ruin this by calling me play-doh." Clay growled.

Pixie giggled. "I swear I wasn't gonna say it."

Jax went to the bar and opened the fridge. "I think we need more beers after that, fuck that was good." He grabbed an armful of bottles. "Yo, play-doh, you want a beer?" He called out, setting the others off again.

"For fuck's sake!" Clay said exasperatedly.

"Sorry, but that shit's funny as hell." Jax grinned, clearly not sorry for using the nickname. 

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	26. Patch Over Episode: Chapter 2

The Sons had dispersed to their morning duties after Hale left so they could try and pick up on the backlog of cars that Pixie had been trying to manage whilst they were out the day before. She pointed Jax and Clay off in the direction of one bike with a heat issue and got to work on a honda which needed a new radiator. Tig had gone out to patrol the neighbourhood and Pixie thought about how he'd gently kissed before leaving and her cheeks blushed.

"Yo, pipsqueak, you in there?" Jax called over to her, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"What d'ya need, oaf?" She grinned.

"Called your name like twice, Bobby found you a work shirt to wear, he's in the office."

Pixie stood up and walked past him, wiping the engine grease on her hand on his back so it left a small handprint. Jax rolled his eyes and shoved her playfully. She stuck her tongue out at him and walked into the office.

"Hey, Pixie, how's it going?" Bobby said looking up from the desk.

"Pretty good, Jax said you had a shirt? What're you up to today?"

Bobby got up from the desk and passed her a grey shirt. "Accounts and shit, nothing fun. This is gonna be huge on you, it's the only spare we got on hand, used to belong to a gorilla of a man named Hank. Try it on."

Pixie pulled the shirt on over the top of her t-shirt, not even having to undo any of the buttons. The shirt still had it's sleeves and Bobby chuckled when Pixie's arms only reached just over halfway down them, so the excess sleeve just flailed around. The hem of the shirt came to her knees.

"I think huge was an understatement." Pixie giggled.

"You gotta show the other guys." Bobby laughed as Pixie dida goofy dance waving the sleeves around. He opened the door for her and whistled to get the group's attention.

"Look at this shit, we're gonna have to find the smallest size they stock just so it doesn't drown her." Bobby said to Clay. Pixie spun around on the spot to show everyone.

"Watch this." She giggled pulling her arms back out of the sleeves and turning the shirt around and around on herself effortlessly.

"Put your arms out, how far down the sleeves do they come?" Juice asked.

Pixie popped them back through after getting the shirt the right way round again. She put her arms out all the way in a T-pose so everyone could see, the sleeves drooping down at the ends.

"We gotta get those sleeves off, then maybe it might be a little better." Clay said.

"Nah," Jax said walking over to Pixie, "I think we should keep 'em, that way, when Pixie starts causing mischief, we can do this." He came up behind her, grabbed the sleeve ends and pulled them around her back so her arms crossed and she ended up in a makeshift straightjacket, the others laughed when they realised what he was up to.

Pixie giggled and struggled against him. "I'm not crazy, I swear!"

"We're Sons, we're all a little crazy." Jax laughed. The group looked up as a motorbike roared into the lot and Tig drove into the garage bay.

"We got troubles." He said grimly, taking off his helmet and sunglasses. He looked over at Jax and Pixie. "Why's she in a straightjacket?"

"It's her workshirt." Jax said laughing. He wrapped his arms around Pixie's torso and lifted her up.

"What's the trouble?" Clay demanded.

"ATF's in Charming, spoke to Unser just now." He said grimly.

"Shit, alright, church in five." Clay announced before storming off towards the clubhouse.

Tig looked over at Jax and Pixie as Pixie managed to wiggle around in his arms and popped out of her work shirt, landing in a heap on the floor as Jax held her shirt in his arms laughing. "You okay down there, doll?" He chuckled.

"Yeah, I can mess with Jax's laces down here." Pixie said reaching for the bows and untying them before Jax could stop her.

"Hey, stop that, you little shit." Jax said gently kicking her. She grabbed his leg and hung on turning herself into an ankle weight. "You're an annoying little sister, you know that, right?" Jax laughed.

"You started it." Pixie giggled.

"Juice gimme a hand, we gotta get going to Church." Jax said gesturing to Pixie. Tig stood up from his bike as Juice came over grinning as he grabbed Pixie around her waist and pulled her up and off of Jax. He passed her work shirt to her and she put it on again.

"What do you want me to do whilst you guys are in church?" Pixie asked.

"Stay in the garage and look out for any trouble. You see someone you don't know, you text one of us, got it?" Jax instructed.

"Yes, boss." Pixie grinned. Jax rolled his eyes, pulled gently on her plait and wandered off, lighting up a cigarette.

"I better go too." Juice said with a sigh. "I'd much rather stay here and mess about with you, but I need to get into Clay's good books."

"Does he even have a good book?" Pixie laughed. "But yeah, go on, my estúpido bebé."

Juice groaned. "When's that nickname going to die off?"

Tig laughed and grinned. "Oh, it's not. Go to church, stupid baby." Tig said making a shooing motion. Juice rolled his eyes and headed off. Tig smiled and walked over to Pixie putting his hands on her waist and gently pulling her to him. "How's my angel doing? You look cute in that shirt."

Pixie blushed. "I'm practically drowning in it. How can you possibly find that attractive? "

"Trust me, doll, it's not the clothes I find attractive, its what's in 'em." He said with a wink. "Take your shirt off for a second." Tig said letting her go.

Pixie pretended to be offended and slapped him with her shirt sleeve. "Oh, how lewd, Mr Trager! Propositioning me in the middle of this dirty garage."

Tig laughed and caught hold of her arms, pinning her up against the wall gently so he could crowd her. "Don't tempt me, angel, that's a dangerous game you're playing there." He growled, bowing his head so their faces were inches apart.

Pixie looked up into his vibrant blue eyes and felt a warm tingle down her spine. "What if I want to play?" She challenged, biting her lip.

Tig heart was beating wildly in his chest. This beautiful bombshell of girl was making him weak kneed and he cursed the fact that he would need to leave her and go to church in about a minute. "You have no idea what you do to me, darlin'." He murmured, catching her lips with his and kissing her hard. She wrapped her arms around his neck, hands tangling in his hair.

"I think I do." She grinned as Tig pulled away. "You better get going, mister"

"Unfortunately. But before I do, pass me your work shirt for a moment." Tig stepped back to give her room. Pixie slipped out of it and passed it to him and he grabbed a hold of the shoulder and then wound the sleeve around his hand and yanked hard. The sleeve ripped off immediately and Pixie's stomach fluttered a little at his show of strength. Tig did the same to the other sleeve, then passed it to her.

"Thanks, Tiggy, I can see my hands now." She said putting it back on. "Now go before Clay gets mad at me for being a distraction."

Tig pouted. "Yeah. Wish us luck, doll, we're gonna need it." He kissed her cheek and jogged back off across the lot. Pixie smiled to herself and decided to try and tidy the garage.

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie was brushing some metal filings out from under the workbenches when she heard footsteps approaching. She looked up to see Half-Sack jogging across the lot, she gave him a wave and he grinned.

"Hey, Pixie! Remember you said you wanted fake blood?"

Pixie nodded. "Yeah, you managed to find some?"

"Yeah! Went looking earlier. The guys are gonna be talkin' in there for a while."  
"Okay, how do you want to do this?" Pixie said standing up.

Half-Sack shuffled awkwardly. "I dunno... you're the one with the ideas."

Pixie walked over and put her hands on his shoulders. "H, have some faith in yourself. How do you think we should do this?"

"I was thinking pretending to run you down, but then the guys'll give me shit for being accident prone."

"So show 'em you're not to be messed with."

Half-Sack's eyes suddenly lit up with an idea. "What if I get the fire axe, we cover it in blood and then maybe say that you messed with me one to many times, make it looked like I snapped."

"Yeah! That's pretty fucking metal." Pixie laughed.

"Should we do this? I mean I don't want to scare anyone too badly, and what if I get shot?"

"Tig and Juice both know I'm an amputee, so they'll catch on straight away and stop anyone from taking a shot at you. Also, you guys staged a murder with dead bodies, This is nothing compared to that." Pixie reasoned.

"True, I can still smell that dead guy if I think about it." Half-Sack shuddered.

"Ew. Okay let's set this up." Pixie grinned feeling very much like she was back in her element.

☠️☠️☠️

Jax was feeling pretty good about the meeting. It had gone his way and it looked like the Sons were going to visit his family friend, Uncle Jury and fixing the gun situation at the same time. Everyone was heading back out to the garage again when they heard a loud scream and shouting coming from just outside the clubhouse door. The Sons looked at each other wide-eyed before storming out. Jax reached the door, throwing it open and froze in his tracks upon seeing the sight before him and the others. Half-Sack's bike was on it's side and Pixie was laying next to it on her back, her left leg was intact, but her right leg was covered in blood and the lower part of it was completely taken off at the knee and was laying a couple steps away with a bloody trail connecting the two halves. Half-Sack was stood over her wielding a bloody axe and was breathing heavily, blood splattered on his face and shirt.

"That's what you get for tipping my bike!" He roared. Jax panicked and reached for his gun at the same time as Clay.

"What the fuck?!" Clay roared completely baffled and shocked. Juice jumped on Jax as he pulled his gun out whilst Tig grabbed for Clay.

"Don't shoot! She's an amputee!" Juice yelled as Jax fought him off.

"Yeah! Thanks to Sack!" Jax yelled, confused.

Suddenly a familiar giggle sounded from the floor and Jax looked over to see Pixie opening her eyes and sitting up.  
"Got you guys!" She grinned pointing at them before hi-fiving Half-Sack.

A huge wave of relief washed over Jax. "Holy fucking shit." He put his hands on his knees to bend over and catch his breath. He watched as Half-Sack picked up the leg and pulled the bloody trouser leg off of it revealing a purple prosthetic leg, holding it up for the other Sons to see, laughing.

"We leave you alone, for what? Half an hour and you guys stage a murder?" Clay growled, though there was a smirk on his face.

"H and I decided to get a little payback in, for scaring the crap out of me thinking you were gonna throw me out on my first day here, and for all the shit you give H."

The other Sons were lost for words until a deep chuckle came from the back of the group, they turned to see Happy grinning.

"That's funny, kid. Well played." He said in his gravelly voice, his laugh seemed to break the spell and the others joined in.

"Thanks, Hap." Pixie grinned back at him.

"This is one dramtaic ass pranks, but props to you guys for being able to pull it off, Son's style." Jax laughed.

"You've got H to thank for that, he came up with this, I was just the stuntwoman." Pixie explained grinning up at Half-Sack.

"So when were you gonna tell us you were an amputee?" Bobby asked after catching his breath from chuckling.

Pixie shrugged as Half-Sack helped her up off of the floor. "Once I'd proven myself to you guys. Had to make sure you guys knew I could ride, shoot and fight as well as any of you."

"Well you definitely proved it and then some." Tig grinned.

"You know, things are a lot more entertaining around here since Pixie joined the ranks." Bobby laughed.

"Amen to that." Jax chuckled. "Can you move without your leg?" he asked Pixie, she jumped up and down on the spot and then hopped over to him.

"Yeah, I've got good balance, unlike you." She grinned, "watch this." She said hopping away from the group a little way, she put her arms out to balance and then threw her arms up, using the momentum to do a backflip, landing easily. She stood up straight with a little hop and giggle. "Ta-daa."

"That was some karate kid shit right there." Half-Sack laughed. "You're incredible!"

"No, that's you, buddy." Pixie grinned.

"Alright, stop clowning around and clean up this shit before we have the customers thinking we just executed somebody." Clay sighed. "They said never work with animals or kids, and somehow, I ended up with both."  
Jax chuckled. "Which of us are the animals and which of us are the kids?"

Clay patted his shoulder as he turned to go back inside. "I'll let you figure that one out."

"You gotta warn a guy next time you pull shit like that, kid." Juice said as he made his way over.

"Where's the fun in that?" Pixie grinned.

"Hey, I'm serious here." Juice said trying not to smile at Pixie's cheeky face. "Don't you realise how close Half-Sack was to being turned into swiss-cheese, and you could've gotten caught in the crossfire, you're lucky Tig and I twigged what was happening in time."

"Thanks for that, by the way." Half-Sack called over as he pulled his bike the right way up.

"No problem, brother." Juice said over his shoulder. "But you both need to be a hell of a lot more careful, I mean, Chibs is probably going to kill me when he finds out about this."

Pixie giggled. "He's more likely to get mad at me, but at least we're even now, a scare for a scare."

Juice sighed. "Yeah, I'm still sorry about that by the way, I just wasn't thinking."

"It's okay, estúpido bebé."

Juice was about to reply when he spotted Happy making his way over to Half-Sack who was looking up at him wide-eyed. Happy clapped Half-Sack on the back and Half-Sack stumbled with the force of it. "Good prank. I liked it." He said gruffly.

Half-Sack blinked, baffled by the fact that Happy had just paid him a compliment. "Thanks, dude." He said, smiling wide. Happy picked up Pixie's prosthetic and walked over to her and gave it to her.

"It's got blood on it."

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to clean it up a little bit, totally worth it though." Pixie said craning her neck to look up at Happy.

Happy turned to Juice. "Lay off her. She's funny." He growled.

"Okay, dude." Juice said a little taken aback, putting his hands up a little in a surrender motion. "Anyways, I gotta start planning with Tig, we're gonna be heading to Nevada at some point doing a gun run."

Pixie bit her lip. "How soon?"

"Not sure yet, Jax and Bobby are going up today to speak to Jury, president of the Devil's Tribe, to see if they can get him on board with it."

"He a friendly?"

"Yeah, Jax's dad, John Teller, knew him well."

Pixie nodded, biting her lip. "Okay."

Juice stroked Pixie's hair and tucked a loose strand behind her ear. "Hey, we're not leaving you for a while, alright? We'll be back before you know it, and the other Sons'll be around to help keep you occupied and out of mischief."

"And you'll try not to get hurt?"

"Pinkie promise, the gun run shouldn't even be a problem, we won't be in danger."

Pixie smiled and locked pinkies with Juice. "Okay, I trust you."

"Good, I trust you too."

"Juice, get over here!" Tig called from the clubhouse. He caught sight of Pixie and blew her a kiss before going back in again.

"I hope that wasn't for me, we're just friends." Juice joked before heading off to speak to Tig.

"I better go clean myself up and find a new pair of jeans." Pixie said looking up at Happy. She made to hop to the clubhouse when an arm suddenly wrapped around her waist and hoisted her up and Happy began walking to the clubhouse with her tucked against his side. "Happy!" Pixie squealed.

"I'm helping." He said firmly. Pixie let him carry her to the clubhouse and to her room, finally putting her down.

Pixie giggled. "Thanks for the help, Hap."

Happy nodded, half to himself and watched as Pixie chose a new pair of jeans and hopped into the bathroom.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	27. Patch Over Episode: Chapter 3

Pixie walked into the main clubhouse room and found the guys sat around the bar discussing plans. Happy was sat at the bar drinking a beer, he looked like he was caught up in his own thoughts and was frowning. Jax was sat next to him, studying a map with Bobby. Pixie grinned to herself and decided to try something out. She walked over to Happy, putting her hands on his shoulders and leaning over so he could see her face.

"If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!" Pixie sang.

Jax almost choked on his soda and looked up to see Pixie grinning at Happy. Happy was glaring at her and Jax prepared himself to haul Pixie's ass to safety should Happy blow his top. Happy put his beer down, sighed, and clapped twice. Pixie burst out laughing, sending the others into chuckles as they watched Happy roll his eyes and smile, playfully pulling Pixie into a loose headlock and ruffling her hair.

"Can't believe you just did that." Jax chuckled.

"Just wanted to make Happy smile, he doesn't do it often."

"For a guy named 'Happy', he is pretty grumpy." Tig quipped.

Happy gave him the middle finger and stood up. "For a guy named 'Alexander' you're not exactly great."

Shouts of 'ooooh' came from the rest of the Sons as they waited to see how Tig would respond.

Tig chuckled and nodded. "Ooh, caveman's using his words!"

"Yeah, here's another two, 'fuck you'." Happy grinned.

"Sorry, but you're not my type, Hap." Tig laughed.

Happy scoffed. "You sure you even have type? Last time I checked you'd go for anything with two legs."

"It's down to one and a half now." Juice put in from the corner.

"Juice!" Pixie squealed laughing, the others burst into cheers and laughter at Juice's comment and watched as Pixie chased him around the pool tables.

"I was kidding!" Juice laughing hard as he dodged Pixie and ran to the other side of the pool table.

"You're still a little shit!" Pixie giggled back. They ran to the sofas and Juice ran behind one of them to stay one step ahead of Pixie.

"Take it outside, kids." Clay barked from his seat at the bar. "Before you wreck the place."

"But this is so entertaining to watch, place your bets on who's gonna win." Bobby spoke up.

Jax and Tig looked at each other and then back at Bobby. "Pixie." They said together.

"Hey, don't sell me short!" Juice chuckled. He opened his mouth to continue protesting when Pixie smacked him full force with a brown cushion that had been sitting on the couch. He staggered and ducked. "Okay! I surrender!" He said laughing.

"Yay! I win." She cheered. "Let's go help Half-Sack clean up the yard before Clay shoots us." Pixie suggested. "Mind you, he'll probably miss." Pixie said turning to smirk at Clay, the Sons laughed at Pixie's quip.

"Get outta here before I test that theory." Clay growled, though Pixie picked up on the light tone in his voice. She stuck her tongue out at him and disappeared out the door with Juice in hot pursuit. They found Half-Sack fiddling around with the hose trying to figure out how to connect it to the outdoor tap. The pair helped him about and they all began washing the blood off of the floor. 

Once they were done, they went back inside as Bobby and Juice prepared for their journey to Nevada. Bobby dropped his map as he pulled on his kutte and Pixie grabbed it for him.

"Thanks, kiddo."

"Are you guys gonna be okay on the road?" Pixie asked.

"Yeah, course. It's just a friendly visit." Jax shrugged.

"I know, but Sons are always the epicentre for chaos." Pixie chuckled nervously.

"The only thing we'll have to worry about on the road is Bobby getting hungry, or the Mayans, but we're going as a pair so we're less of a threat."

"Is Nevada Mayan territory?"  
"Some of it is, why?" Bobby asked. He could see Pixie deducing something in her mind.

"No reason." She said nonchalantly. "Just curious, I don't know where all the territory lines are around here."  
Bobby raised an eyebrow but said nothing, Pixie was definitely hiding something, but he decided she'd tell them if it was an issue, so didn't press. "I'll get Juice to show you, especially if you're riding around the area, wouldn't want you stumbling into trouble."

"I'm usually flying headfirst into trouble, but yeah, I get what you mean." Pixie smiled. "Safe travels, you guys." She smiled. Bobby hugged her tightly and Jax joined in before they let go of each other and the men walked off to their bikes. Happy walked up behind Pixie and put his hand on her shoulder, she jumped and whipped around.

"Just me." Happy smirked.

"Hey, Hap." Pixie smiled, relieved. She noted his black backpack slung over one shoulder and bit her lip. "You're leaving too?"

"Doing a run for an Autism charity. Should be back tomorrow." Happy explained gruffly.

"That's a good cause. Good luck, Hap, I'll miss ya!" Pixie grinned up at him and then on impulse, wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Happy was stiff as a board at first and then gently patted her head. "Stay safe." She told him firmly as she let him go.

"You too." He said gruffly before stalking off to his bike. Pixie watched him leave and then decided she may as well clock in for her next shift at the garage seeing as nothing else was going on. She wandered outside and found Tig taking a smoke break with a couple of the mechanics.

"Tiggy? You busy?" She called out to him.

He stood up immediately. "Hey doll, what's up?" It crossed Tig's mind that Pixie had well and truly had him wrapped around her little finger.

"Was wondering if you're ready to clock in for your next shift? You're on for this afternoon, aren't you? I'm about to head over."

Tig stamped out his cigarette. "I'll come too, angel, need a hand with anything?"

"There's a Jeep with engine failure, had a look at it earlier and I'm stumped."

"Well if you can't figure it out then that Jeeps' a goner." Tig smiled as they began walking across the lot.

"I'm not a genius, Tiggy, I don't know everything." Pixie blushed.

Tig opened his mouth to reply but was distracted as a vintage car pulled into the lot.

"Who's the lady with the cool car?" Pixie questioned.

"That would be Tara. She used to date Jax when they were kids." Tig watched as Jax signalled to Bobby to set off without him and he went to address her. As Pixie looked around, she spotted a black car through the iron bar fence a little way off from them. It was parked up on the side of the pavement and a middle-aged man was peering at Tara and Jax with a pair of heavy duty binoculars. Pixie turned so her back was to the car.

"Tig, look at me, then over my shoulder, _subtly._ " Pixie said quickly, sensing the serious tone in Pixie's voice, he subtly did so.

"What's up?"  
"The black car with the chrome and the slimy looking dude, you see him?"

"Rodger."

"He was using binoculars just now, eyeing up Jax and possibly Tara."

"Shit, you sure?."  
Pixie rolled her eyes. "I know binoculars when I see them. Yes, I'm sure he was staring at them."  
"I trust you, stay put, I'll watch and see what he does when Jax leaves.

Pixie nodded and a second car drove in. "Oh wonderful, Gemma's here." Pixie groaned.

"I know you're not her biggest fan, but she is nice, you just gotta get to know her." Tig tried reasoning with her.

"I'm staying at arm's length of her. Or using you as a shield."

Tig chuckled. "Are you scared of Gemma? Most of us are, to be fair."  
Pixie scoffed. "Afraid? Hell no, I'm staying at arms length so I don't do damage if she comes at me again."

Tig watched the conversation between Gemma, Jax and Tara. "You're a feisty one, aren't you?" He smiled.

"Since '86." Pixie said with little finger guns.

"Eighty-six? Are you kidding me?" Tig laughed. "Now I feel old as hell."  
"I'm not that young." Pixie giggled. They watched Jax leave on his bike and a mechanic drove Tara's car into the bay, Gemma drove her car up to the garage, and then headed to the clubhouse as Clay emerged. "Slime-ball still there?"

"Nah, he's driving off. I'll tell Clay, c'mon let's get to work" Tig said gently patting her upper arm and walking in the direction of the garage. Pixie jogged past him, playfully pushing his side, Tig retorted with a playful shove back and the two of them ending up scuffling as they made their way over, laughing and smiling at eachother.

"Tig, gimme a hand getting this car outta the bay." Half-Sack called as he grabbed a set of keys off of the hooks. Pixie made her way over to the back of the garage where Juice was fixing a motorbike, she watched Tara chatting to Lowell, a shy mechanic that was a little jumpy at times.

"Hey! Watcha workin' on?" She grinned over the bike at Juice.

"Hey kiddo, brake failure, you wanna give me a hand?"

Pixie nodded and got to work with Juice. She looked up as she heard Gemma's voice to see her walk past the entrance, giving Tig a wave as she went past.

"Hey." She greeted on her way past.

"Hey, Gemma." Tig smiled before turning his attention back to Half-Sack. "Back it up, buster, c'mon back it up." He called to Half-Sack who carefully reversed the car out. "Woah, woah." He signalled for Half-Sack to stop. Pixie passed a tool to Juice just as he went to reach for it and he grinned, liking how Pixie was always on the same page as he was. Clay wandered past them and leant against a metal tool cupboard, watching Tig and Half-Sack. Pixie caught the younger man watching Gemma reach into her car for something and then call for Lowell to sort her back tire.

"Ew." Pixie said wrinkling up her nose.

"What?" Juice looked up from the bike.

"I think H was just checking out Gemma's butt." Pixie murmured. " _Ew_."

Juice chuckled. "Sometimes, you're too observant."

"Tell me about it." Pixie giggled, they watched Tig and Half-Sack as they walked into the bay a little way.

"I gotta admit something." Half-Sack spoke up, turning to Tig. They stopped walking and Tig looked at him, putting his hands on his hips in his signature pose. "Clay's old lady gives me a serious MILF chubby." Half-Sack announced.

" _Blech_!" Pixie made a retching sound from the back of the garage, making Juice chuckle. Half-Sack turned round to look at them, but instead caught sight of Clay who stood just behind him.

"Oi, peanut gallery, get back to work." Clay growled at Juice and Pixie who sank down behind the motorbike.

Half-Sack gulped and tried to play it off like nothing happened. "Hey, I brought the car out of the garage."

Clay didn't respond, just kept looking at him with a scowl, eyes hidden under his dark brown sunglasses.

"It's uh- it's clear now. If you need me to clear it out again I can-." Half-Sack trailed off, knowing he was just digging his own grave deeper. Tig moved past him going to Clay's side, clearly not wanting to be a part of Half-Sack's sinking ship.

"Clip a truck from Unser's tonight. Make it look like you stole it. Old man wants deniability." Clay informed.

Tig nodded. "Need to talk to you later, Pixie spotted some guy spying on us."

Clay nodded, looking at Half-Sack for a moment before walking off. Tig inclined his head, sucking in his bottom lip as he thought over Half-Sack's stupidity. He stalked over to him and smacked him hard on his upper arm.

"MILF chubby. _Seriously_?" He grunted

"Half-Sack's eyes went wide. "It's like a compliment, you know? 'Cause she's hot."

" _Ew._ " Pixie squealed from somewhere behind the bike.

"Stop." Tig growled at Half-Sack.

Half-Sack swallowed hard, realising there was nothing he could do or say that would make his situation any better. He awkwardly walked off towards the back. Tig shook his head and went after Clay.

"H, mate, we were making progress, what was _that_?" Pixie said trying hard not to laugh at his misfortune.

"I don't know," he groaned, "do me a favour and shoot me next time it looks like I'm about to do something stupid."

"Why would we do that when the results are so entertaining to watch?" Juice grinned.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	28. Patch Over Episode: Chapter 4

Later on, after Tara had left with Gemma and the influx of customers had died down, Clay ordered for the big oil barrels hiding the AK's to be moved in preparation for their transportation to Nevada. Half-Sack and Tig were working with one sack truck trolley, and Juice and Pixie has the second one. Clay's phone rang and he stepped aside to answer it.

"Well this forces our hand." Clay said after a moment of him listening to Jax. Pixie raised an eyebrow at Juice as she helped push a barrel over onto the trolley. "Can't risk bringing those AK's in, with the Mayan's onto our visit." Juice pushed the trolley out to the pile and the other two helped him put it down next to the others. "No, I'm talking about a more permanent presence. It'll be months before the warehouse is up and running. Indian Hills could be real useful." Clay said. Pixie was trying not to listen in, but Clay's voice was loud and she was concerned about the safety of Jax and Bobby. "They're earning outlaw-size amounts of money. It's only a matter of time before the Mayan's push 'em out. They need us for their own protection." Clay insisted. The three men came back in and Pixie helped Juice with the next barrell. "It's good for both clubs." Clay said firmly. Pixie guessed Jax was trying to reason with him and it wasn't going well. "Now if you don't want to break it to 'em, I'll tell 'em myself, at church." Clay said firmly, slamming his black flip phone closed before Jax could say another word. Pixie saw the scowl on his face and braced for impact.

"We're riding to Indian Hills. Mandatory." Clay announced. The foursome stopped what they were doing and came over to Clay huddling around to hear what was going on. "We're patching over the Tribe."  
"Are you serious?" Tig asked, stunned.

"Do I look serious?" Clay drawled.

"We- we're short. I mean, Chibs, he's up north with McKeevy and Happy's off doing his autism run."

"Anybody visiting?" Clay thought aloud.

"There's Lorca, Bowie, Doughnut and a couple of prospects down from Tacoma?" Juice offered thinking.  
"Get 'em." Clay nodded, Juice moved off to make the phone calls.

"Okay, well, wow, Jury's got some beautiful ladies, it's gonna be a four-shot patch over party." Tig said getting a little excited.

"Unfortunately, you're driving the precious cargo." Clay grinned at him.

Tig's smile faded. "No, no, Christ, Clay. You need me."  
"Hey. Hey. Last time you had free range with the ladies, your DNA almost brought us down." Clay reminded him. Tig winced at the mention of his blunder.  
Half-Sack chuckled quietly, glad he wasn't the only one who wasn't in Clay's good books. Pixie joined in, finding it funny how Tig was pleading with Clay like a kid stripped of his candy privileges. She felt a slight twinge of jealousy and awkwardness at the mention Tig's previous encounters with women but brushed over it, knowing full well that the only thing higher than a Son's body count was his libido.

"Besides," Clay grinned, grabbing the back of Tig's neck affectionately, "You're the only one I can trust to handle this."

"C'mon, hauling barrels? Let the prospects go with Juice!" Tig argued.

"We only have one prospect and _she's_ going with you two." Clay grinned and stalked off to his office before Tig could argue further.

Pixie did a double take as Half-Sack's crestfallen face confirmed that she'd definitely heard Clay right. "Wait? I'm not benched?" She said excitedly, Half-Sack and Tig turned to look at her, both with equally miserable expressions. "I'm sorry about you guys' misfortunes, but I'm excited as hell!" Pixie giggled, doing her little jump of joy.

"Yay." Half-Sack said half-heartedly.

"Tough crowd." Pixie joked. "C'mon, Tig, you're Clay's golden boy, I think he's probably gonna forgive you as soon as you do the run, and you'll still get to party to your heart's content once we get up there." Pixie reasoned. "And H, keep your mouth shut, kiss his ass and he'll come around. He hasn't put a bullet in you, so he's not that mad." Pixie said to him. "I'm gonna go tell Juice, then we gotta finish up moving these barrels." She turned on her heels and jogged off.

"What do I do now?" Half-Sack said turning and looking at Tig.  
"You heard the girl, kiss his ass if you want to keep your patches." Tig said, shooing him off in the direction Clay left in.

Pixie found Juice out in the lot as he got off the phone with the visiting Sons. he caught her big grin and excitement in her step as she jogged over to him.  
"What's got you all buzzed?" Juice smiled.

"Clay wants me to go with you and Tig to do the gun run." Pixie said with a little jump. Juice loved seeing her like this, where she was so happy it was like her little body couldn't contain it and she ended up bouncing on the spot.

"Wait, really? That's so cool!" He enthused, grabbing her hands so he could do her silly jump with her.

"Yeah!"  
"He must be impressed with everything you've done recently, I know we planned to have a sleepover tonight, but looks like we're having a road trip instead."  
"You could bring some of your CDs, it'll help keep us awake, and make the trip more fun."

"That," Juice said booping Pixie's nose, "is a very good idea. I'll go home and grab them before we head off."

"Cool. Tig's grumpy as hell that he's missing the patch over party."

"Yeah, thought he would be, that guy loves his parties"

"I'll go check on him, I just wanted to let you know what was going on. What're you gonna do now?"  
"Go home, sleep so I'm awake for tonight, plan and pack. How about you?"

"Same apart from the sleep bit, I tend to run on all cylinders until I can make it to a bed. Once drove a truck full of medical supplies from Liverpool to Wick in Scotland, took nine hours to get up there and a further nine to get back, didn't sleep until I got home and crashed, I think I was out like twenty hours."

"Geez, kid!" Juice said. "Did you not have a co-driver?"   
"I did, but I wanted to make sure he didn't struggle or go to sleep at the wheel, so I didn't nap whilst he drove."  
"Sometimes I think you care a little too much." Juice shook his head.

Pixie shrugged. "It's just how I'm wired; I never do anything half-heartedly, it's always full force or not at all."

"I can for sure see that already, you're pretty fucking metal." Juice laughed. "Go see if you can calm Tig down a little, last thing I want is to be stuck for five hours on the road with a sulky Tig."

"On it, boss." Pixie grinned, they fist-bumped each other and Pixie headed back inside. She found Tig pulling his work shirt off over his head so he didn't have to unbutton it, she snuck up and put her hand on the sliver of skin where his black sleeveless t-shirt was riding up a little. He gave a startled grunt and took it off, scowling down at her, his lips twitching a little from trying not to smile at her cheeky face. Pixie slid her hand up further under his shirt and he gently caught her wrist.

"Hey, Little Miss Mischief, what are you up to?"

"Wanted to see if you're okay, Mr Big Grumps." Pixie grabbed his left hand and pulled it around her shoulders so she was tucked up against him.

Tig's heart melted a little and he thought about how perfectly Pixie fit against him like that. "I'm fine, just a little disappointed that I don't get to party with my brothers."  
"I know, but at least we get to hang out together with Juice, it'll just be like a fun road trip. Besides, we had fun on our last trip out together."

Tig smiled. "Yeah, I wanna do that again, when we get this gun run crap done, we should go see a movie."

Pixie grinned. "Is that a date, Mr Trager?"

"Oh yeah, I wanna do things right with you, you're too special to rush."

Pixie felt the butterflies in her tummy again. "You're special to me too."

Tig grinned and kissed her forehead. "Thanks for calming me down."  
"Welcome." Pixie smiled up at him, she looked at the tattoo on Tig's left forearm, gently tracing around the edges.

"That was my first tattoo, I was in the marines for a little while." Tig explained, reminiscing. Pixie studied it, it was an image of a naked blonde lady stood in front of a dagger which had been drawn to go in and out of Tig's skin with the point of the blade pointing to his hand and the lady's feet were pointed to mirror it. Around her and the dagger was a white banner which read "death before dishonour."

"It's beautiful, how did you find life in the marines?"  
"I wasn't in for long, hoped it would straighten me out, I ended up leaving because I couldn't handle not having my own freedom. Not having control freaks me out a little." Tig spoke candidly and Pixie listened intently, a little more of Tig's character clicking into place.

"I completely understand, Bruce put me in the Army Cadets, it's kind of like Scouts, but military based. I was thirteen and I got kicked out in less than a year because they couldn't handle me. I wouldn't listen to them and ended up breaking a kid's nose."

Tig raised an eyebrow. "What did the kid do?"  
"We were doing rifle training and exercises where we had to disarm a threat. We were put in pairs and the boy I was with was older than me and didn't like me very much. I was supposed to run towards him with the dummy rifle, shout 'bang' and then he was supposed to drop so I could disarm him. He didn't drop even when I shouted 'bang' repeatedly and laughed at me, getting in my face, telling me that girls can't fight or shoot. I felt threatened and used the butt of the dummy rifle to smack him as hard as I could. He went down and I told him 'girls can do anything boys can do'."

Tig laughed. "I see things haven't changed much then. It's nice to know military life didn't suit just me."  
"Yeah, it's a little thing we have in common." Pixie smiled, feeling comforted. "We should compare tattoos some time, its really cool hearing the backstories behind them."

"Yeah, you've got some interesting ink on you, you've seen my three already."

"You've seen most of mine on my torso." Pixie recalled back to the first day where she showed the Sons her tally marks, her reaper had been on show as well as her crow.

"Most? You have more?" Tig asked intrigued.

Pixie giggled, Yeah, "I have the four you saw and one more."

"One more? I can't wait to see it." Tig grinned. "Where is it?" He said wiggling his eyebrows.

"That's for me to know and you to find out, in due time." Pixie flirted back.

☠️☠️☠️

As Clay prepared to leave for Indian Hills with Half-Sack and the visiting Sons, Gemma said her goodbyes to Clay whilst Pixie hugged Half-Sack and told him to be safe, she walked over to Clay and waited until Gemma was done.

"Be safe out there, pres'." Pixie smiled sincerely as Clay got on his bike.

"You too, don't screw this up, kid."

"I promise I won't." Pixie said leaning across, holding out her pinkie. Clay chuckled and wound hers with his for a second. He set off and the six other Sons followed him out.

"Your sweetness leaves a bad taste in my mouth." Gemma snarked at Pixie.

Pixie shrugged. "You spit so much venom your tongue probably forgot what sweet tasted like. I'm just being affectionate with my family, I care about them."  
"They aren't your family. You aren't patched."

"Neither are you."  
"I'm Clay's old lady, I don't need a patch to earn respect."

"No, you just live vicariously through your husband's status, hypergamy doesn't earn you respect."

"You shut your mouth." Gemma hissed.

"Oh dear, Gemma! Did I touch a nerve? I'm so sorry." Pixie said sweetly, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Drop the cute shtick, it doesn't suit you well."

Pixie sighed. "Look, Gemma. I want to get along with you, I really do, okay? You don't threaten me and you're not going to earn my respect by being catty, so please drop the attitude. I can tell you're a nice lady under all the layers of armour and I would really like to get to know that person."

"Too bad I don't make friends with fake-ass bitches."

"What do you want from me?" Pixie asked, getting thoroughly bored of the exchange. "You want me to cower in fear of the biker queen? You want me to pack my bags and leave? Well buck up, your _highness_ , because that's not happening. I will apologise for the things I've said to you, I'm sorry if I hurt you, but you have to realise that if you bite me, I'm biting back. I'm not just gonna lie down and take the crap you give me."

Gemma scoffed and stormed away. Pixie stood there breathing deeply for a second before she made to punch the metal tool cupboard.

"Don't you dare." Tig called from the back of the garage. Pixie looked up to see him getting up from his seat and jogging over.

"Sorry, Gemma just got me a little wound up." Pixie bit her lip.

"Punching bag, _now_." Tig said firmly, guiding her outside and to where it hung from a support beam. "You're doing well with her, Gemma'll come around eventually, she's just not good with new people." Tig soothed. He grabbed the boxing gloves tucking them under his arms and then put Pixie's hands in his. He could see the scar tissue and calluses on her knuckles from years of fighting, and how the sides of her thumbs were scarred from years of picking the skin. "We gotta look after these hands, baby girl."

Pixie looked away. "When I get frustrated or angry or sad, the only way I can deal with it is by hitting it out. My bedroom walls were filled with holes and plaster marks where Bruce had tried to fill them back in. Sometimes I'd hit until my hands bled. I also pull at the skin on the sides of my thumbs, it helps ground me."

Tig pulled Pixie in close and held her tightly. "I understand doll, but that's not a good way, we don't want you hurting yourself, I mean who's gonna kick our asses if you can't do it?"

Pixie inhaled his calming aroma. "Yeah, I understand. I ended up with a boxer's fracture in both of my fists once, that was after my first kill. I felt so conflicted and distraught I just couldn't contain it, I took it out on an oak tree on the way home and let's just say the tree won." Pixie said quietly.

Tig listened carefully, feeling relieved that Pixie felt close enough to open up to him. "Poor, doll. Wish I'd been there to help." Tig said tucking some escaped pieces of hair behind Pixie's ear, then put the boxing gloves on her hands.

"Me too, I'm glad you're here now. Can you hold the bag steady?" Pixie asked him. Tig nodded and got in place whilst Pixie punched away, feeling her angst slowly melting away. After a while, when she was done, she stopped to breathe and Tig undid the gloves for her.

"Feel better?" He asked her.

"Yeah, thanks, sorry for going all Rocky on you."

"Hey." Tig said sharply, making Pixie look up. " _Never_ apologise for how you feel, you need to express what's going on inside, otherwise you'll implode. And you shouldn't apologise for needing my help to calm down, okay? I'm here to support you, same as Chibs and Juice. You read me?" He put his hands on her shoulders so he could look deep into her hazel eyes with his icy blues.

"Loud and clear." Pixie smiled, feeling a little less alone.

"Good girl." Tig smiled. "Why don't we start packing for the trip. I remember you said you barely had any bullets left, want me to take a look at your guns and see if we have some spare bullets in stock?"

Pixie nodded, glad for the distraction. "Yes please, especially since Clay's willing to give me a more active role on the team."

"What type are they?"  
"Walther P88's. They used to be Bruce's, but he gave them to me when he upgraded. They're the first handguns to be ambidextrous, which is why I use them."

"We should have bullets for those. That's really cool, how ambidextrous are you?" Tig asked.

"I can do anything with either hand, I can also do things at the same time, such as writing."  
"Wow, trust you to be special." Tig joked. He grabbed her hand and they walked into the clubhouse so Tig could find the bullets for Pixie's guns. They found what they were looking for pretty quickly and then went to Pixie's room so she could load her guns and pack for the trip. She showed Tig her bandolier with her throwing knives and he examined them, fascinated. The blades were silver with metallic purple handles which had heart shaped cutouts at the top.

"Where did you get these?" Tig asked, weighing the blade in his hand, finding it perfectly balanced.

"A guy I knew custom made them for me as a thank you for saving his brother's life." Pixie called from the bathroom as she was packing her toothbrush and hair bobbles.

"How'd that happen?" Tig asked, intrigued.

"Guy's brother got addicted to heroin, and then went missing, he had a heart defect and the family was worried he'd die if they didn't get to him. I tracked him down, tied him up in a flat and between myself and Doc Doc we detoxed him and then got him into rehab and heart surgery. The guy's relapsed a couple of times, but got clean in the end."

"Geez kid, that's amazing." Tig marvelled at Pixie's stories, it sounded like her life in Highton was a rough one. He watched her go into the en suite. "Who was the guy you mentioned, Doc Doc?"

Pixie came out the bathroom to see Tig lying on his back on her bed twirling the knife in his hands. "Doctor Peter Dockley, or 'Doc Doc' was the local doctor for Highton and worked as a medic for the Sons and anyone who couldn't go into a regular hospital. He had his own office in our clubhouse and was a fully patched member. He also organised medical equipment runs to villages and towns that desperately needed it."

"Sounds like a local hero."  
"Oh he was. Doc Doc was one of the kindest people you could ever meet. He never judged anyone and he encouraged me to learn first aid and medical techniques such as sewing up wounds and dealing with stab and bullet wounds."

"You'll have to tell Chibs that, he's our medic man."

"Really?"  
"Yeah, he was an army medic for a bit. Military life didn't suit him either."   
Pixie tried to picture Chibs in military gear. "That's interesting. Maybe I can help Chibs when we next need to sew one of you guys up." Pixie smiled.

"I think he'd like that. How accurate are you with throwing?" Tig asked passing Pixie her knife back.

"Oh I'm extremely precise. I take pride in my accuracy with any weapon I have."

"Can you hit that bullseye on the dart board?" Tig said pointing to the one that was hung on the back of the bathroom door. Pixie picked up another knife, holding one in each hand and threw them from where she stood. Tig watched as the knives flew in perfect synchrony and sunk right into the red bullseye together.

"Holy shit, angel, that's incredible."  
"Told you I'm ambidextrous." Pixie giggled.

"You're a little assassin, that's what you are." Tig teased, pulling Pixie down onto the bed with him.

"Is the Sergeant jealous?" Pixie laughed as Tig's hand snaked up to her ticklish points.

"A little, but I like the challenge of keeping up with you." Tig cooed, laughing a squirming when Pixie found the sensitive spots over his ribs. They wrestled with each other, each one trying to gain the upper hand and loving how playful they were. Eventually they called a truce and lay on their sides looking at each other.

"I could teach you how to throw the knives at some point." Pixie said after a while, tracing the Sons seal tattoo on Tig's left shoulder.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Tig answered honestly. He thought about how calm Pixie made him feel. Usually there was a chaotic whirlwind of thoughts in his mind, especially when preparing for a run, but Pixie calmed the winds down to a gentle breeze.

"We could get you your own knives, I think you'd suit the Kunai throwing knives the best."

"I'll look into it." Tig grinned, he checked his watch and groaned. "C'mon angel, we've got places to be, I'll help you finish packing and grab my kit from the utility room." Tig ordered, he patted Pixie's hip gently as he got up to finish their chores.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	29. Patch Over Episode: Chapter 5

Pixie stood in between Tig and Juice, the three of them dressed in all black as they watched the doberman guard dog eat the steak Juice had laced with drugs, waiting for it to go to sleep, _much like the cops_ , Pixie thought to herself.

"Did you dose it?" Tig asked, as a couple of minutes passed of the dog happily enjoying it's late night snack with no ill effect.

"Triple dose." Juice confirmed.

Tig nodded satisfied. "Patch over bash, man." He said wistfully. "Makes Mardi Gras look like a sweet sixteen party, and with Jury's stable, shit. Nothing but young, tight, perfect-" Pixie cleared her throat awkwardly, Tig looked at her like he'd almost forgotten she was there. "Sorry doll, old habits."

Juice watched as the dog scooped up the remaining pieces of meat and padded off to the far side of the truck lock up. "Well, looks like Fido's having his own party." He commented. He picked up the bolt cutters that he'd brought and cut open the chain securing the gate closed. Tig opened it up and Juice passed Pixie the cutters.

"Stay put, we'll drive it out, load the bikes and head back to TM. Watch out for any trouble." Juice instructed before closing the gate again to keep Pixie safe on the other side. "Which one?"

"Unser said take the cargo truck, keys should be in it." Tig commented, pointing it out to Juice.

"Uh, guys." Pixie called as she spotted the dog emerge from the shadows, mouth foaming and looking completely feral. It emitted a loud growl and both men turned to look in horror as the dog started to run at them.

"Holy shit. _Holy shit_!" Juice shouted.

"RUN! _Go, go, go_!" Tig shouted breaking Juice out of being frozen to the spot. The two of them sprinted to the truck, Tig going to the passenger side and finding it locked, Juice scrambled up and in on the driver's side. "Open the door!" Tig yelled to Juice as he leant across and got it open. Pixie watched on in shock as the dog lunged for Tig as he made to scramble inside the cab, it sunk it's jaws into Tig's backside and wrenched Tig back out, Tig yelped and managed to kick it away, whilst Pixie yelled and hit the fencing to make a distracting noise. The dog ran back in her direction and she pulled off her belt and stuck her prosthetic leg through the gap in the gate. The dog bit down on it and she looped her belt around it's neck and pushed the remainder of the belt through through a wire link so the wire pinched the belt, securing the dog in place on a makeshift leash. She fought the dog off of her leg again and pulled it back through, listening to the muffled shouts from inside the cab of the truck. It sounded like Tig was beyond pissed and Pixie hoped Juice had enough sense to keep quiet before Tig throttled him. The truck started up and drove to the gateway for the trucks to exit out of, ramming it so the lock burst and the truck was free. Pixie picked up the bags and pulled out her first aid kit, hoping that Tig wouldn't need stitches. The dog continued barking, but calmed a little, realising it was stuck. The truck stopped on the road and the two guys got out, Tig's right hand was covered in blood and he was limping heavily.

"What in hell's bells happened there?" Pixie asked the two of them.

"Stupid fucking idiot gave the dog crank instead of sleeping pills." Tig growled.

Pixie did a double take. "Juice! Crank's a powerful stimulant that causes violent behavior. Even I know that." Pixie looked at him in disbelief.

"I'm sorry!" Juice said panicking now he was getting it from both sides.

"Load the truck. I'll help Tig." Pixie ordered, shaking her head. She turned to Tig and suddenly felt a bubble of laughter rise up inside of her, suddenly feeling relief and also seeing the hilarity of the fact that Tig just got bit in the ass.

"Hey, don't you dare!" Tig said as he spotted Pixie suppressing a chuckle.

"I'm sorry, it's just a little funny, I guess this situation came back to bite you in the ass." Pixie giggled.

Tig groaned. "Please tell me you brought a first aid kit?"

"Right here, though you'll probably need me to take a look at it, considering you can't really see your own ass."

"No way."

"Tig, it needs to be sterilised, I'm medically trained. So unless you want to make it to third base with Juice, I suggest we find a spot with reasonable lighting and I see if it needs stitches." Pixie explained with a smirk. "Believe me, this wasn't how I expected to see your ass for the first time either, but I guess we just have to fly by the seat of your pants." Pixie giggled, thoroughly enjoying the opportunity for puns.

Tig shook his head. "Okay, _fine._ But I swear, if I hear another pun out of you I'll kick your-"  
"Ass?" Pixie supplied, ducking when Tig took a swipe at her. "Alright, alright, I'll stop for the moment, I have a torch in my bag I can use to have a look, if we go behind the trees, it should shield us from the road."

Tig nodded, limping off the road and down into the secluded area, Pixie followed him with her bag and the first aid kit and got to him as he undid his belt buckle. Pixie's ignored the butterflies in her tummy and focused on the job at hand, Tig dropped his jeans and turned around gingerly pulling his grey boxers away from the wound and wincing. Pixie switched on the torch and sucked a breath in through her teeth.  
"That bad?" Tig asked.

"Yep, you've got some deep puncture wounds and a tear making a gnarly skin flap, probably from when the dog dragged you out the truck. I'm gonna have to rinse the wound and patch it, but you're gonna need some stitches, antibiotics and possibly a tetanus shot."  
" _Fuck_." Tig swore.

"I can clean and stitch it, but we're gonna have to get shots and supplies from somewhere."

"We can't go to the hospital."

"That's why I said somewhere, I'll patch you up so you don't bleed out until we get to Indian Hills, then I'll sew you up. Chibs isn't gonna be back for a while so you'll have to make do with me."

"Okay, I trust you, doll." Tig gave in.

"Do me a favour and hold the torch, I'm gonna need both hands to clean this." Pixie instructed. Tig put his hand behind his back and Pixie passed him the torch, angling it so she could see the wound. "This is gonna sting like hell for a second, want something to bite down on?"

"Please." Tig nodded. Pixie pulled out a spare bandage roll and passed it up to him then pulled out the antiseptic spray.

"Ready?" She asked him, Tig nodded and she went to town, making sure to get all the areas where the dog and punctured him. Tig's muffled grunts of pain made Pixie's heart ache and she wished she could make him hurt less instantly. Once she was done, she wiped away the blood and dries around the edges so she could pad it and apply paper stitches to hold it together. Once she was done, she stuck a large gauze pad over the top and taped it down to secure it. "Okay, that's about as good as I can get it for now, don't do too much physical activity and tell me if the pain gets worse or if you start to feel sick. I'll have to stitch it when we get to Indian Hills." Pixie said packing the medical supplies away and standing up. Tig dressed himself and turned to her, wrapping his arms around Pixie and kissing her gently. 

"Thanks, baby girl."

Pixie smiled and stretched up to kiss him back, these little kisses were quickly becoming one of Pixie's favourite things in the world. "You're welcome, Tiggy."

"You have a nicer bedside manner than Chibs."  
"Why? Because I gave you kisses?"

"Yeah, last time he had to patch me up he just called me a 'big baby'."

Pixie giggled, hearing it in Chibs' voice. "Oh dear, well, whenever you need some TLC, you can come to me." Pixie smiled.

"I saw how you managed to secure the guard dog, you're really smart. Remind me next time we need to break in somewhere, to take you instead of Juice."

Pixie giggled. "It's not his week, he'll redeem himself."

"Guys? I loaded the truck, we need to head back." Juice called from up on the road.

Tig growled. "I think I'll kill him before he has a chance."

"Now, now, Mr Trager, we have a job to do, where's your sense of professionalism?"

"Currently being digested by a doberman." Tig huffed as he made his way up the embankment. Pixie chuckled and followed suit.

☠️☠️☠️

Usually, Pixie would take pride in her patience. She would probably describe herself as a patient, caring person, but right now, that was going completely out of the window as she listened to Tig and Juice argue back and forth like she had been doing for the past hour and a half. It had started as soon as they all clambered into the truck, the cab had a small backseat area which could double as a bed and she'd sat there so she could stay out of the bickering that commenced the second Juice put the keys in the ignition. From there, they'd gone back and forth all the way back to TM to pick up the guns in the oil barrels. Pixie was stood on the back of the trailer helping Tig and Juice up the ramp with the barrels and helping to set them down. She had to at least give some credit to Juice, he was trying to move past the incident.

"You ever been to Ireland?" He asked Tig as he helped push the barrel onto the sack truck.

"Shut up." Tig huffed.

Juice looked up at Pixie with pleading expressions and then back at Tig. "Look. Look man, it's not my fault that you got bit, alright? You didn't specify what kind of drug." Tig stopped moving the trolley and looked up slowly at Juice with a deadly expression on his face. Pixie sighed and rolled up her sleeves, getting ready to step in. "I'm not happy about being here either and missing the party, at least you and I can try to have a decent conversation."  
"What? What do you want? You want to bond?" Tig said calmly, Pixie winced knowing Juice was walking into a trap. Juice, obliviously nodded, his eyes hopeful. "You wanna get closer? _Fine._ " Tig shrugged and made to go for his belt buckle.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Pixie exclaimed as she stormed down the ramp. "Tig, don't you dare do what I think you're about to do. Juice, shut up before you dig yourself in deeper." Pixie got in between both men and turned, pointing at Juice. "Juice, take some responsibility here, this _is_ your fault for not double checking before you dosed the doberman, say you're sorry." Pixie said firmly.

Juice squirmed uncomfortably. "Sorry, man."

Tig grinned, triumphant and Pixie spun on her heels to point at him, his smile immediately waning. "And as for _you_. You're the Sergeant, so fucking act like it. You should have checked Juice got the drug right _before_ we left, you screwed up too, so apologise." Pixie ordered.

Tig looked at her incredulously. "I'm the one who got bit here."

"Does it look like I'm in the mood to hear any more arguments?" Pixie said putting her hands on her hips and raising an eyebrow, challenging Tig. "Now, apologise."

Tig shoved his hands in his pockets in defeat. " _Sorry_."

Pixie turned back to Juice. "Turn around, _now_." She ordered. Juice looked like he was about to question it but gave up, turning with his back to Pixie. Pixie landed a kick to his ass, roughly in the same spot where Tig got bit.

"Shit! What was that for?" Juice said in surprise.

"Now you're both even with mutual pain in your asses. So now we can get back to work so you both can stop being a pain in _my_ ass. Shake on it and let's get back to business, we haven't got all night." Pixie said, making eye contact with both of them before stalking back off to the truck.

Tig extended his arm to Juice and they shook hands. "You good?" Juice asked.

"Yeah, you?"

"Yeah. Pixie kicks real hard."

Tig chuckled. "She also leads real good. I can see why she made VP."

"True that, let's get this show on the road before we make her any more mad." Juice grinned. "I am sorry, by the way, I probably should've checked with you."

Tig nodded "Yeah, me too, I should've prepped better."  
"We good?"  
"Yeah, brother, we're good." Tig nodded, helping to push the barrel onto the sack truck to Juice could wheel it up to Pixie. He had to admit, seeing Pixie taking charge was probably one of the hottest moments he'd had with her, and it almost made up for him getting bit... _almost_.

Once the trio had finished loading the truck, Tig lifted Pixie up so she could make it up the steps to the truck and she giggled, playfully swatting at his wandering hands.

"You feeling better?" She asked him as he climbed up behind her.

"Yeah, thanks for kicking in earlier. Literally."  
"No worries, I know when I need to kick ass to keep things on track."

"Remind me never to piss you off again, because _ouch_." Juice chuckled as he got in on the other side.

"Hopefully the kick up the keister is all the reminder you need."

Juice smiled and switched on the indoor light to look at the map. "I say we drive for like two and a half hours, then maybe switch and take a break, we could get gas station snacks and make the rest of the trek." Juice said pointing out the route he was thinking of, spreading the map out on the dashboard. Tig took the opportunity to shuffle up the bench seat and pull Pixie into his lap so he could see the map better.

"Yeah, looks good, avoid this area though, classic Mayan territory." Tig said running his index finger along a couple of the roads, he had his other arm wrapped around Pixie's middle and his hands idly stroked her side. Pixie tried to focus on the map and not the heat running through her body.

"That's roughly where I got lost." Pixie laughed.

Tig chuckled. "You got lost? How did you end up here, anyways?"

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask that too." Juice turned to look at her.

"Well, Manchester charter flew a small cargo air plane with two pilots, some shipment stuff, me and my bike from there, all the way to Nevada County Airport. I then started the trek, lost my map around Coleman, somehow ended up in a place called "Secret Town" and thought I was actually tripping out, ran into some trouble, back tracked, found Lodi and then Modesto. Then some fucking place called "Chowchilla", hit Fresno, then backtracked to Charming once I found the signs." Pixie explained, pointing out her route.

Tig and Juice were silent for a second, then burst out laughing. "Okay, I have questions." Juice said. "How did you lose your map?"

"I pulled over to consult because you guys have some crazy fucking place names and I couldn't decide if I was reading them right, or if I was more jet-lagged than I thought. I mean, you have a place called 'Yankee Jims' for crying out loud." Pixie stopped to giggle with Juice and Tig. "Then as I was consulting and trying to figure out where I was, a semi blew past me doing way higher than the limit and the slipstream sucked my map up like a kid with a milkshake."

Tig chuckled at the analogy. "Poor doll. Could you not find another map?"

"Mate, I swiped _that_ one from some poor backpacking sod asking for rides, I didn't particularly want to try again, especially since the only people around were American truckers and they seem way gnarlier than the British variety."

"Considering that we're about to drive a truck, does that make Tig and I gnarly?" Juice grinned.

"Nah, you two are two of the biggest softies I've ever met." Pixie smiled affectionately booping his nose.

"Come on, let's start driving before Clay tears me a new one for being late." Tig said checking his watch.  
"He doesn't need to, the dog already did that." Pixie grinned.

Juice laughed and watched as Tig picked Pixie up in his arms and dumped her over the back of the seat into the bench behind. She squealed as she bounced on the mattress.

"Meanie!" She giggled.

"I warned you what would happen if you made another pun." Tig said pretending to be mad, but the affection was clear in his voice.

Juice started up the engine, chuckling at the pair of them. "Hey, quit bickering and tell me if you wanna listen to this." He said pulling a CD case out of his backpack and tossing it behind him. Pixie caught it and flipped it over to read the back. "It's a mix of all my favourite songs, there might be some on there you like."

Pixie scanned it, her grin getting wider. "Are you kidding me? If you mix the order, I have a CD like this back in Highton. You match me on like ninety-five percent of these songs." She passed it to Tig to read.

"Really? That's amazing!" Juice enthused.

"Hell yeah, I mean Guns 'N' Roses, ACDC, Motörhead and Meatloaf are like, mandatory Sons bands, but My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Alan Walker, Fun and Panic! At the Disco are so cool!"

Tig shrugged, leant forwards and put it in. "Here's the real question, Motörhead or Guns 'N' Roses?"  
"That's like asking me to pick my favourite book." Pixie giggled, leaning forwards to rest her hands and chin on the backrest of the front seat. " I do love 'Sweet Child 'O' Mine, that's like a lullaby to me, 'Ace of Spades' makes me feel hyped, I used to listen to Motörhead whenever I worked the garage shifts at Highton, depends on what mood I'm in."

Tig turned round and grinned. "C'mon, that's not like you to be so indecisive."  
"Okay, fine, Guns 'N' Roses." Pixie answered.

A huge grin spread across Tig's face. " _That's_ my girl."

"I'm guessing you love them too?" Juice asked.

"Oh, yeah! Slash can fucking shred, man, greatest guitarist ever!" He pressed play on the radio console and it roared to life with "Highway to Hell" by ACDC. Pixie immediately started jamming along, drumming along to the beat and singing the lyrics, making the other two laugh, joining in on the chorus as Juice pulled away from the clubhouse and they began to drive off. 

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	30. Patch Over Episode: Chapter 6

The hour and half on the road flew by for the trio. They quickly lost themselves in the music joking with each other as they jammed out and sang along to the lyrics they knew. Although Tig didn't know some of the newer bands, he liked the tunes as well as making Pixie laugh with his air guitar strumming. Eventually Juice turned the music down so he could ask Tig for directions and Pixie leant forwards and watched the road through the windscreen, looking for anything she recognised from her journey to Charming.

"Where's the next gas station?" Juice asked, slowing down a little.

"To the left, to the left." Tig instructed, consulting the map.

"Now take it back now y'all." Pixie sang quietly with a little cheeky grin on her face.

"Please tell me I did not just hear that." Juice chuckled as he pulled in. "I may as well fill up the tank, least we know it'll have enough to get us there."

"You worry too much, but sure, why not." Tig said with a shrug, he absent-mindedly reached out for Pixie's hair and stroked it soothingly. "You want snacks?"

"Silly question." Pixie grinned.

Tig chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you got me there, I'll go see what the gas station has to offer."

"Get me snacks too." Juice said as he jumped from the cab to go fill up the tank.

"Sure, sure." Tig responded as he gingerly stepped down, wincing from the bite mark.

"Hey, maybe you'll turn into a were-doberman." Pixie called out, leaning over the back of the seats.

"Woof, woof." Tig chuckled before heading off to the store to get the snacks and pay for the gas. Pixie hopped into the front seat and watched Juice fill up the tank from the wing mirror, he caught her looking, crossed his eyes, and stuck his tongue out. Pixie copied him and they goofed off that way until Juice was done. He got back in and turned the radio on.

"I'm gonna listen to the traffic broadcast, just to make sure we don't get stuck in a jam. Why don't you get out and stretch? You've been all curled up like a cat for the past hour."  
"It's comfy, but yeah that does sound nice." Pixie said jumping down from the truck. She wandered across the court to ease the stiffness in her knees and stretched her arms around, rolling her neck and looking up at the stars.

"Yo, ese, is that the bitch that slashed our tires?" A male voice with a heavy Mexican accent sounded from Pixie's right. She'd clocked a trio of bikers getting gas, but hadn't taken too much notice of them until now. Pixie turned to look and recognised two of the three, her stomach sank.

"It is! It's the bitch that broke my nose!" Exclaimed one of them, he had gauze and tape over his swollen nose and two black eyes, Pixie recognised it as her handiwork immediately, and realised it was the Mayans that had tried to run her off the road when she'd been travelling through Nevada to Charming. "Hey! Hey, bitch!" He yelled out to her. Pixie sighed, realising there was no way she was going to be able to avoid them. She stepped closer to the group, hands on her hips. In the back of Pixie's mind, she wondered if she'd picked up that habit from Tig.

"Not you bastards again, what do you want now?" She asked, raising her eyebrow.  
"Payback. You didn't really think you'd escape us after what you did?" The shorter one threatened.

"Considering I haven't seen you fuckers for like two, three weeks, yeah, I kinda thought I'd left you all in the dirt, where you belong." Pixie said with a shrug.

"You don't get to talk to us like that, _perra_. Get her." The first one growled. They stalked forwards and Pixie clocked their weapons and sized them up. The first one was a tall, slender man with short, black hair which was slicked back. He had a butterfly knife, which he was twirling around menacingly. The second one was a shorter, broader man with shoulder length brown hair, his dark eyes twinkled dangerously, accentuating the bruises that surrounded them, he had a crowbar which he swung into his palm a couple of times. The last one looked younger than the other two he had a slight limp and Pixie vaguely remembered stamping on his ankle when she'd fought the pair on the side of the road. He pulled his arms up into a boxer's stance and his spiked knuckle dusters gleamed in the crisp light of the overhead gas station light.

"You seriously want to take me on again after the last time? I kicked your asses in like two minutes flat. Bet I can do it in one." Pixie smirked.

"You mind telling what the fuck is going on over here?" Tig's voice suddenly boomed from behind her, everyone looked up at him as he strode forwards, trying to assess the situation, he had a white plastic bag in one hand.

"Long story short, these guys tried to run me off the road when I last came through here, it didn't end well for them and now they're trying to have a round two." Pixie explained briefly.

"She broke my nose and slashed our tyres. You better control your bitch better or she'll get declawed." The second Mayan growled.

Tig's eyes went deadly. "You need to learn some manners, asshole. Back off, or I'll make you learn." Tig growled, he grabbed Pixie's arm and made to push her behind him. The Mayan with the blade suddenly launched forwards at Tig and before he could react, Pixie broke free, jumped forwards grabbed the guy's wrist and snapped it back at such a force that there was a bone-crunching sound and the guy screamed in pain, dropping the blade and nursing his hand against him, the other two looked shocked for a second and then advanced. The second one swung the crowbar and Pixie ducked, swerved and grabbed it, twisting it so that the man was forced to let it go or else his wrist would snap too, he backed away and tried to throw a punch, Pixie used the crowbar to smack his hand away and the guy yelped in pain.

"Let us leave, or do I have to remind you guys how to treat a woman with respect again?" Pixie warned. "Spoilers, it's not gonna go well for you."  
"She's right. You take another step and I'll burn this place to the ground." Tig growled, lifting up his shirt to show the gun he had concealed there. "One stray bullet and you'll be celebrating the Day of the Dead a lot sooner."

The Mayans looked at him and Pixie with wide eyes, slowly backing off.

"Let's go, these people are loco." The third Mayan said getting back on his motorbike. Tig tugged Pixie and they quickly walked backwards away from the group, making sure they had eyes on them until they were further away enough for them to safely turn around and jog to the truck. Juice opened the passenger door and peered down at them.

"How in the hell did you manage to start a fight within minutes of getting out of the truck?" He quizzed Pixie. Tig grabbed her round the waist and lifted her up onto the steps so she could clamber into the cab.

"Pixie, you got some s'plaining to do." Tig half-joked as he shut the door. Juice started up the engine and pulled out. Pixie looked from Juice to Tig on either side of her and bit her lip.

"Okay, so you know how I mentioned I ran into some trouble nearby Secret Town? Well it was two of those guys back there, the short one and the young one, they tried to run me off the road, and threatened me, I pulled off to ask them what their problem was and they came at me, saying I was trespassing and then insinuated that if I wanted to keep going that way, I would need to provide sexual favours. I declined with force, broke the guy's nose and then knocked the younger one down, I stomped his ankle to make sure he wouldn't be following me, slashed their tyres and backtracked the hell outta there. Didn't think I'd see them so soon." Pixie explained. She watched as both guys stiffened next to her.

"What do you mean by 'provide sexual favours'?" Tig growled.

"They were talking to each other, and the smaller one said something like 'deberíamos obligarla a darnos mamadas si quiere pasar por la ciudad. Está sola aquí afuera, podríamos llevarla', my spanish is rough, but I knew enough to understand them."

Juice's grip tightened on the wheel. "Pixie! You should have fucking told us! I'm gonna kill 'em."

"Focus on driving, we have a job to do, I think they already learnt their lesson." Pixie rubbed his arm gently.

"What did they say?" Tig growled.

"They were going to force her to blow them if she wanted to go through town."

"You should have told me!"

"I didn't know either of you then! And Tig, I didn't want you fighting them back there because you're already hurt and I know you'd go berserk."  
"I'm fine!"  
"You have a gaping hole in your ass, I wouldn't exactly call that 'fine'." Pixie fired back. Juice muffled a chuckle, but Pixie heard it, making her giggle too, breaking the tension in the cab.

"You still should have told us." Tig said, calmer as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I could never find a good time, what with all the drama happening the past couple of weeks, and to be honest, I completely forgot about the incident. It just felt insignificant when compared to the massacre, the gun warehouse and Tristen."

At the mention of the massacre, Tig laced his hand with Pixie's. "I know, but it still isn't right."  
"I'm with Tig, but at least you beat them down." Juice patted Pixie's knee.

"They didn't hurt you, did they?" Tig asked.

"The short guy got a lucky shot to my stomach, but it wasn't too bad, nothing compared to my fight with Jax"

"Mayan Bastard." Juice growled.

"I broke his nose, so he got his penance." Pixie shrugged. "I don't want to give them another thought. Let's eat snacks and have some fun." Pixie suggested, leaning forwards and pressing the play button. 'This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race' by Fall Out Boy came on and Pixie smiled, bopping along to the beat.

Tig nodded, not wanting to press Pixie further and reached for the bag, pulling out Doritos and putting the bag in Pixie's lap so everyone could reach, as well as a bag of marshmallows.

"Ooh! Good choice! I love marshmallows!" Pixie smiled up at him, she opened the bags and popped a pink marshmallow in her mouth, passing one to Juice so he didn't have to take his eyes off of the road.

"I guessed right then." Tig grinned, he grabbed a handful of Doritos and shifted a little in his seat.

"You in pain?" Pixie asked him as he winced.

"It's not gotten any worse. It's just not at a comfy angle." He twisted a little putting his back against the door. Pixie put the snacks in his lap, un-clipped her belt turned around in her seat, diving over the back onto the seat behind, making sure she didn't knock Juice. She righted herself, then leant forwards.

"Turn so you're sideways on, put one leg on the seat and keep your right leg on the floor, you should be able to put most of your weight on your left side that way so it'll relieve the pressure."

Tig did as he was told and found it was a lot nicer. "That's better, thanks, baby girl."

"Put your seat belt on, you're making me nervous." Juice grumbled.

"Yes, big brother." Pixie said pretending to grumble, but she caught his eyes in the rear view mirror and grinned, sitting back and strapping in.

☠️☠️☠️

Meatloaf's "Dead Ringer for Love" played in the background as the trio passed snacks and joked with each other. They ended up playing the game, two truths, one lie, taking it in turns to try and fool the others. Tig had his arm on the back of the seat with his left hand dangling over the back, Pixie was holding it with both hands, idly playing with his fingers and rings, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Juice had just gone, Pixie managed to call him out on his lie about which tattoo he got first.

"Okay, my turn!" Pixie smiled, turning Tig's golden skull ring around on his finger gently. "When I was a kid, I once took Bruce's motorbike for a joyride. When I was a kid, I once hid on the roof of the clubhouse. When I was a kid, I once climbed a fifteen foot high tree. Which one's the lie?"

"They all sound pretty plausible for you." Juice laughed. "My bet's on the clubhouse one, there's no way no one noticed you going up there."

Pixie giggled and turned to Tig. "What about you?"

Tig thought for a second. "Tree. I remember you saying you were a really small kid, so climbing a tree that high would be tricky."

Pixie blushed a little. "It's really sweet that you remembered that. But you're both wrong. The lie was taking Bruce's motorbike. I may be bad with authority figures, but even I know you never touch another person's bike unless you have a death wish."

Tig laughed. "You're right on with that."

"So you really climbed a fifteen foot high tree _and_ made it onto the roof of your clubhouse?" Juice questioned, intrigued.

"Yeah, I was not an easy kid to look after." Pixie giggled.

"How'd you end up on the roof?" Tig chuckled.

"I was being babysat at the club by some of the Highton Sons when I was six, they decided to play hide and seek with me, and completely lost track of where I went off to. The entire club was looking for me for over twenty minutes before anyone realised I'd made it to the roof."

"How?" Juice asked.

"I'd managed to scale the drainpipe, you have to remember I had been doing gymnastics for at least two years by that point and I was even more of a hyperactive daredevil than I am now."  
"I think I would've had a heart attack if I'd found you up there under my watch." Juice chuckled.

"There is actually a short video of the incident, it might be on that memory stick I gave you."

"Sweet, as soon as things die down, I promise I'll sort that out for ya."

"What happened with the tree?" Tig smiled, watching as Pixie drew gentle circles on the back of his hand with her fingers.

"I got mad at Bruce because he told me I had to stop setting fire to things so I climbed it in protest, I was eight. They got me down with the promise of a zippo lighter to play with instead of matches, that way I could click it open and shut whenever I wanted to see flames."

"I see we have a little pyrotechnic in our ranks." Juice laughed. "To be fair, I got into trouble setting fire to things too."  
"Same here. I had burn marks on my childhood bedroom carpet." Tig smiled. "Though I never climbed a tree to protest."

"What can I say? I was a tiny rebel."

"Still are." Juice smirked. "Tig, are we close?" He asked, recognising some of the signs from the map.

"Yeah, keep going up this road, we're about ten minutes off." Tig nodded. He pulled a chocolate chip cookie from the bag and readjusted himself so he could peer over the back of the seat at Pixie.

"You want cookie?" He said playfully, lifting the cookie up a little way so Pixie could see it.

Pixie leant forward, catching onto the silliness, nodding her head. "Yep."

He held it out a little way for her and Pixie grabbed it with her mouth, biting down so she could take it and leant back against her seat.

Tig chuckled got another raising it up so she could see it and then did a Cookie Monster impression, moving toward it and pretending to bite it. "Ba ba ba ba ba ba."

Pixie laughed so hard she almost choked on her cookie, sending Tig into a chuckling fit too, he loved Pixie's joyful giggle and and the way her nose wrinkled when she laughed.

"Oi, Cookie Monster, is this the turning?" Juice grinned.

Tig snorted and looked up ahead. "Yeah, we're here, park it round the back and lets see if the party's still going."

"Doubt it, Tiggy, they have at least five hours on us, if not more." Pixie said with a sympathetic pat to his cheek. "We could totally have a party of our own though." Pixie suggested as Juice put the handbrake on and passed the keys to Tig.

"Yeah, we got snacks, we could play pool and darts, see if both of us combined could beat Pix." Juice thought aloud. "Or we could sleep since we've been up all night, I'm tired."

"Aw, buddy, you should've told us sooner, I'd have taken over for you." Pixie said sympathetically, leaning over and hugging Juice from behind.

"Nah, I just didn't nap earlier, ended up playing Halo instead." He chuckled.

"Ooh, I've played Halo before, we should play that together when we get back!"

"Hell yeah, kiddo!" Juice said visibly getting excited. "What other games do you like?"

"Call of Duty, Fallout, World of Warcraft, Sims, Mario, Zelda, anything really." Pixie listed.

Juice turned around in his seat with huge eyes. "You are a freaking godsend. Do you know how hard it is to find Sons willing to play video games? Opie and Jax like them, but they're both dads now so they don't have much time."

"Well I have more free time than I know what to do with, so when we get back home, we gotta have a gaming session."

"This weekend?"  
"I'm open, though I do have a date with Mr Tiggy over here." Pixie said ruffling Tig's hair, he smiled at her and playfully tugged on Pixie's plaits. Juice noted how soft the expression on Tig's face was when he looked at Pixie, there was so much care and adoration that he'd never seen there before.

"Oooh, look at you guys being all fancy. Well lemme know when and I'll get everything set up."  
"Awesome! Though be prepared to get your butt whooped because I'm so gonna beat you." Pixie grinned.

"Oh yeah? You're going down kid, I have a ridiculous amount of playtime under my belt."

"Oi, gaming nerds, we got places to be, people to see, let's go." Tig reminded them both. He could see how animated Pixie and Juice were getting and it was cute to see, but at the same time, his leg ached, he needed to report back to Clay and he really wanted to see if the party was still going.

"Yes, boss." Pixie and Juice said together, making them laugh. Juice hopped out the truck and Pixie slid over the back of the seat and followed him out whilst Tig gingerly stepped down and shut the door.

"Is the pain any worse?" Pixie asked, appearing next to him, concern written on her face.

"Nah, I'm just tired and stiff, doll."

"We probably need to get stitches in as soon as possible."

"Do you have them on you?"

Pixie nodded. "Yep, in my first aid kit. I don't go on runs without them."  
"That'll make Chibs proud. Alright, guess that's what we're doing this evening. So much for partying." Tig said glumly.

Pixie shifted a little uncomfortably next to him. "We can always do that tomorrow, I'm sure there'll be some beautiful crow eaters to dance with or whatever, they seem to stay up longer than the Sons." Pixie suggested, hiking her bag higher up on her shoulder and made to catch up with Juice who was walking ahead of them, not meeting Tig's eyes. Tig's brow furrowed in confusion and he grabbed her hand, trying to catch up with the complete one-eighty Pixie just did in her anxious state. He stopped them walking and stooped a little so he could see her face.

"Baby, what was that?"

Pixie bit her lip. "That's what you want to do, isn't it? I'm not dumb, Tig, I got a pretty good indication of where your head was at back at the truck compound. I get it, Sons parties are wild."

Tig let out a breath, realising what happened. "No, you're not dumb, baby girl. My head was in a stupid place at the compound, I was still pretty salty at Clay for making me do this run instead of being with the others, but then you made me feel so much better. I probably should've told you this sooner, but you wanna know why I wanted to party, after that?"

Pixie still stubbornly wouldn't look at him. "Why?"

"Because I wanted to dance with you, and you only." Tig said gently. "I saw how much you enjoy your music, and all I could think about was how cute it would be to see you dance properly. And how hot, because you are _stunning_ , angel."

Pixie looked at him now, still biting her lip, blushing a little. "And you're not just saying this to butter me up so I'll be gentle as possible when stitching you up?"

Tig chuckled. "No, although the thought of any sharp object coming close to my ass does make me wince, I trust you, and I'm being completely honest with you here, I swear." Tig stroked her cheek. "No, actually, I promise." He grinned, holding out his pinkie for Pixie. She smiled and linked hers with his for a second.

"Okay, I trust you too." Pixie nodded.

Tig gently stroked her bottom lip, pulling out from under her front teeth. "Now, no more biting, angel or I'll make you stop."

Pixie raised an eyebrow, feeling calmer and let some of her mischief back up to the surface. "How?" she asked cheekily.

Tig smiled, bent down and kissed her hard, then pulled back after a beat. "That's how."

"Hardly seems like a punishment." Pixie giggled, reaching for Tig's hand as they started walking again.

"That's because I don't believe in punishment training. It's all about positive reinforcement, doll."

"Well then I look forward to being positively reinforced." Pixie said with a wink before jogging to catch up with Juice. Tig swore his heart stopped beating and his knees went weak, this girl was going to be the death of him, he was sure of it, but he'd love every second of it.

"Everything okay?" Juice asked as they rounded the building.

"Yeah, just a miscommunication." Pixie giggled. "Let's go see how badly this place is trashed, the sun's coming up to the Sons'll be unconscious."

"One sun up, a whole lotta Sons down." Juice chuckled. He opened the door for her and Tig who'd managed to catch up to them and they took in the complete chaos inside. The place was dark, and there were bodies on every flat surface. Snacks littered the floors and tables and chairs looked like they'd been thrown around, knowing the Sons, they probably had. There was a gambling table with a couple of Sons completely passed out over it, still clutching their cards. Women in various states of dress were slumped around, some still on top of whoever they got busy with. Pixie could practically feel Juice cringe next to her at the mess in the clubhouse. She gently patted his arm, and looked over at Tig who had his hands on his hips, surveying the place.

"Look at this shit." He said in dismay.

"Here we go." Juice said tapping him to draw his attention to a gorgeous black woman who stumbled out from the bedrooms. She was tall with long ebony hair and was wearing red hot pants and a black bralette.

"Hey guys!" She called out to them before she stumbled, caught herself on the edge of the bar, and threw up. Pixie was at her side in a second, pulling her hair out of her face and grabbing her a glass of water.

"Drink this, go lie down on your side and try to stay hydrated, have you taken anything?"  
The woman shook her head, grateful for the water. "No, just my own body weight in liquor."

"Okay, if you feel worse, let me know, and make sure you stay on your side, that way if you throw up in your sleep, you won't choke."  
"Thanks, girl."

"It's Pixie."  
"Daytona, nice to meet you." The woman smiled and Pixie was dazzled by how good-looking she was. She watched Daytona leave and then turned round to Juice and Tig who came over to see. Tig grabbed a bottle of whiskey that was stood on the bar and chugged a couple of mouthfuls.

"Okay, here's my plan, we find a place clean enough for me to safely sew Tig back up, then we have a cleaning party."

"They have prospects for that here." Tig said swallowing hard and wincing as the liquid fire made its way down his throat.

"Yeah, but they're not gonna be waking up 'til at least noon and I don't think Juice can last that long." Pixie said gesturing to where Juice was trying to make a pile of peanut shells on the bar and clear a space. His nose was scrunched and shoulders tensed.

"I'm sorry." Juice said looking up.

"Don't be, it's making me antsy too, maybe go unload the bikes or find a place to nap outside until I'm done with Tig?" Pixie suggested. Relieved, Juice nodded and scampered out of the clubhouse.

"He okay?" Tig asked.

"Yeah, I think mess triggers him, which is fine, everyone has their trigger, like yours is lack of control." Pixie explained, looking around.

"What's yours?"

"Feeling inadequate, that and people telling me I can't do something." Pixie said honestly, she spotted a door to a kitchen and opened it, peering in and feeling a sense of relief. The kitchen hadn't suffered too badly under the wrath of the partying Sons and there was a metal worktop and cleaning spray in one corner. "Found our makeshift hospital, c'mon."

Tig took the bottle of whiskey with him and followed Pixie into the kitchen. "Yes, nurse."

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	31. Patch Over Episode: Chapter 7

Pixie finished sewing up Tig's wound and properly disinfecting it as best she could, making a mental note to insist he get a tetanus shot as soon as he got back to Charming. She helped him up and they cleared away the medical debris together once he'd got his jeans back up. Then Tig gently lifted Pixie onto the worktop so they were almost the same height and he stepped in between her legs, put his hands on her waist and kissed her forehead.

"Thank you for looking after me, baby girl." He crooned softly, putting his forehead against hers.

"Anytime, handsome." Pixie replied, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck before tilting her head and kissing Tig properly. She gently bit his lower lip and Tig growled, deepening the kiss. He slid his left hand under Pixie's kutte and black t-shirt, stroking the skin on her hip with his calloused fingers and Pixie felt electricity course through the skin there and the butterflies that seemed to be taking up a permanent residency in her stomach flicker to life. She wound her fingers through Tig's curls and he reciprocated by using his right hand to tangle in her hair. Pixie darted her tongue out and swiped it along Tig's lip, he pulled her closer and danced his tongue with hers. Pixie took in his calming scent of spice and pine and motor oil and she smiled into the kiss. Tig's mind was on a similar path, Pixie's strawberries and vanilla scent was probably the most delicious thing he'd smelt in ages and he loved how Pixie was meeting him at every step during the kiss and her gentle nibbles on his lip was sending him wild. He thought about how this had to be the best kiss he'd had in a long while, and if he didn't stop then things would definitely be progressing a lot sooner than he planned, but goddamn it was difficult to stop. He eventually plucked up enough willpower to pull back and rested his head against Pixie's, both of them breathing heavily.

"Where did you come from?" Tig murmured breathlessly, grinning.

"Highton." Pixie whispered back, jokingly. Tig chuckled and tickled her for a second before lacing his hands with hers.

"I meant it metaphorically." Tig kissed her nose.

Pixie sighed and looked up into his ice blue eyes, both of their pupils were blown wide. "Where do you see this going, Tiggy? Because you're the first person I've felt this way about, properly. I really, really like you, Alexander Trager." Pixie said seriously, stroking the side of his face.

Tig felt his heart bloom. "Where do I see this going? As far as we both agree to take it. I want to be with you, and I want this to be an equal decision, and that's saying something for me, I usually just dive head first and take full control, but you're different, special and I really, really like you too, Meggie."

Pixie smiled. "You confused by my last names? I think I'm just Telford now. I may as well embrace this new chapter of my life considering a part of me died that day with my charter." Pixie swallowed a lump in her throat and Tig gently stroked her hands, trying to ease the pain.

"You rose from the ashes like a phoenix." He smiled. "Or like an avenging angel."

"I like that image, that's comforting." Pixie kissed his cheek and wrapped her arms around him for a hug, tucking her face into the crook of his neck. Tig's heart melted and he held her tightly to him, glad he could help her. "I want to be with you." It came out as a whisper and Tig almost didn't hear it.

Tig pulled back a little way, so he could see Pixie's face properly. "I want that too."

"Yeah?" Pixie smiled.

"Yeah," Tig kissed her on the forehead, then got a silly idea. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes." He said kissing her all over her face between each 'yes' so Pixie giggled and squealed. Tig hand to stop because he was laughing too much at the noise she made. "What did I do to deserve you? What god did I accidentally pray to or what good deed did I do that meant you came into my life?"

"I dunno, but I'm glad you did whatever you did." Pixie giggled. "I wish we met under better circumstances, but I don't regret meeting you, you were one of the few people that were there for me when I felt most alone in the world, and I'm glad I get to make you feel the same way. You deserve happiness, Tiggy."

Tig actually felt tears spike his eyes and he looked away briefly. "I really don't, doll."

"Yes you do!" Pixie leant forwards and put her hands on his face, pulling him back to look at her. "You think you're evil because you've had to kill people, don't you?"

Tig felt the air leave his lungs for a second. "Among other things, yes." He ground out through gritted teeth.

"If a wolf kills another wolf threatening it's pack, it's family, would you call it evil?"

Tig scrunched his brows. "No, it had to protect it's pack."

"You're the wolf, Tig. You did what you had to do to protect your pack, and to survive. You're not evil, you're a protector."

Tig opened his mouth to argue, then closed it. "I... I've never thought of it like that."

"You avoid thinking about it instead, drown out the memories?"

Tig nodded.

"That's only going to make it worse, the more you run from trauma, the worse it becomes, turn around and face it, let it out. Memories only have power over you if you keep them inside. It's terrifying, opening up, but you can always, always talk to me."

Tig looked at Pixie, her big hazel eyes full of concern, her tousled black hair in plaits, her elven face. He imagined her with angel wings, black ones, to match her hair. "How did you get to be so smart about stuff like this?"  
"Years of pushing forward. Highton wasn't a cake walk. There were some pretty messed up things that went down there."

"You can talk to me about them too." Tig smiled reassuringly.

"I did a thing with Juice, when we had our sleepover, we did a confessional where we were completely honest with each other about things in our lives that were bothering us. It was really therapeutic and I think you'd really benefit from doing that with us, or just me. Juice would benefit from knowing you're in his corner, he's screwed up a lot recently due to his anxiety and he needs to know people are in his corner."

Tig nodded. "I'd like that, you have such a big, wonderful heart, darlin'."

"So do you, I see straight through your armour."

"Hey, stop trying to undress me with your eyes." Tig joked, pretending to get offended and took a step back, folding his arms and looking away.

Pixie grinned, slid off the counter and walked up behind him, putting her hands on his shoulders so she could lean into to whisper in his ear. "Why would I do that when it's much more fun to do it with my hands?" She smiled and winked before leaving the kitchen.

"Have mercy." Tig murmured, shaking his head and following her out.

☠️☠️☠️

Tig helped Pixie find as many cleaning supplies as he could before he had to sit down to rest his leg, so Pixie went out and found Juice dozing in the truck with the driver's window rolled down. She climbed up the steps and leant through the window.

"Wakey, wakey Mr Spacey." Pixie called out to him booping his nose. Juice jumped and his dark brown eyes snapped open, seeing Pixie's face he relaxed with a laugh.

"What up, kiddo?"

"Tig now has one less ass hole, you want to help me clean? Or would you prefer to snooze more?"

Juice laughed at Pixie's choice of words. "Nah, I'll come help clean, it'll make my mind feel better about the mess." Juice sat up and Pixie leant back so they wouldn't knock heads. She jumped down and watched as Juice got out and stretched.

"Wanna see something cool?" Pixie asked him. Juice raised an eyebrow and she did a handstand, and then proceeded to walk on her hands a little way, watching the floor so she didn't put her hands on any sharp pebbles.

"That's awesome! How long you been able to do that?"  
"Since I was six, it's really fun to do when you're bored, freaks the neighbours out too when you go to collect your morning paper on your hands." Pixie explained, kicking her legs out so she could right herself and stand up straight.

"I'll bet, that would be super spooky to see if you weren't expecting it." Juice nodded, beaming at Pixie as they started walking back inside.

"Speaking of spooky, I had a part time job at a haunted house attraction for a little while because I can crab walk and contort my body weirdly, so they got me to play Samara from 'The Ring'. They dressed up a crate like an old TV set and I crawled out the screen towards the guests, it was really fun." Pixie explained.

"Holy shit." Juice laughed. "I swear to god if you did that to me I would actually die. That film terrifies me."

Pixie giggled. "I promise I won't go to that extent."

Juice nodded, then thought about it. "Out of interest, how do you do that crawl thing without breaking your spine?" He asked, opening the door for Pixie.

"Want me to show you?" Pixie asked.

"What's going on?" Tig asked looking up at the giggling duo from where he was sat at the bar.

"Pixie can do the Samara crawl."

Tig's eyes lit up. "Really? I love that film. Do it."

Juice scrunched up his nose like he was dying to know but at the same time really wanted to chicken out and say no. "Okay, yeah do it."

Pixie nodded and took off her kutte, giving it to him. "Stand by Tig and I'll crawl to you." She quickly pulled the bobbles off her hair, shook it out so her long black hair was in front of her face, got down on the floor and began to do the signature writhing crawl, bringing her leg up to overtake her arm on either side and then moving to drag her herself with her arms, making her hands into claw shapes.

Juice was watching her with a mixture of horror and excitement. "That is so freaky!"

"What is?" Half-Sack came walking out from the bedroom corridor, rubbing his eyes. Sensing this opportunity, Pixie began to crawl towards him, growled and reached for his boot.

"Holy fucking shit!" He yelped, trying to back away, falling over and landing on his ass. "No, no, no!"

Tig and Juice cracked up from his reaction and Pixie couldn't keep from laughing and pulled her hair back from her face, sitting up. "It's just me, H."

Half-Sack looked at her with relief and shock in his eyes. "Fucking hell, I thought I was gonna die." He burst out laughing.

"Why would the 'Ring' chick be chilling in a Sons clubhouse in Nevada?" Tig laughed.

"I'm hungover, okay? I wasn't exactly expecting to walk in and see _that_." He said exasperatedly gesturing to Pixie. She giggled and hugged him.

"You okay, buddy?"

"Not really, but that's not your fault."

"Wanna talk about it and help us clean?"

Half-Sack nodded, getting up and helping Pixie to her feet. Half-Sack swept the floor and turned over chairs around the still unconscious Sons whilst he told them about how he'd fallen for a girl named Cherry last night, but Clay had slept with her to spite him for his inappropriate comment about Gemma. Pixie winced as she shoved the soiled kitchen towel piece she was using into the trash bag Tig held.

"That's rough, mate. I guess it's payback, but that's gonna wreck Gemma if she finds out. Did the girl seem happy to be with Clay?"

"She looked disappointed, but still went with him."

"At least she was disappointed, I could always put in a good word for you with her?" Pixie offered. "It sounds like she does really like you."

"Yeah, stop moping and go get her." Juice put in, trying to be helpful.

Half-Sack nodded. "I want to, but what if Clay gets mad?"  
"He's fine with it now, I know the guy like the back of my hand. He just wanted to show you that he's not to be messed with." Tig spoke up.

"Well, message received, loud and clear." Half-Sack emphasised. The group fell into comfortable silence after that until Pixie lifted up somebody's t-shirt and found a stereo. She switched it on and "Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf came to life on the stereo, she turned it down so that it was loud enough to dance to in the main area, but quiet enough that the recovering Sons would be able to sleep through it.

"Get your motor runnin'." Pixie sang the first line. She grabbed a bottle of whiskey and pointed it at Juice like a microphone.

"Head out on the highway." Juice continued without hesitation.

"Lookin' for adventure" the duo continued as they swept down the bar and put the alcohol back onto the shelves whilst dancing. They continued singing together until the chorus, when Half-Sack and Tig, getting into it began to sing too.

"Like a true nature's child, we were born, born to be wild! We can climb so high, I never wanna die! Born to be wild, born to be wild!" The foursome sang, dancing along, Tig grabbed Pixie's hand and spun her around as she went past him, heading for the pool table so she could bring back the glass tumblers. Some of the sleeping Sons in the main room awoke, looking around in bleary-eyed confusion, probably thinking the party was still going, and eventually shuffled off into the back rooms or outside for a morning smoke. By the end of the hour, the group had almost completely cleared away the room and got it looking much better, save for the large bin bags full of broken glass and various party debris. They turned the music down a little more as Clay emerged putting on his kutte.

"Oh man." He groaned, grinning.

"I hate you." Tig grumbled, sitting back down.

"Morning, coffee?" Pixie asked him.

"Oh yeah. Looks good in here. Going for a smoke."

"Thanks, coffee coming right up." Pixie nodded, Half-Sack beat Pixie to the kitchen door to get the coffee machine going, trying to butter up Clay. Pixie watched as a petite woman with curly brown hair and green eyes walked out behind Clay, she was wearing a black lace mesh top, red bra and jean shorts. She looked over apologetically at Half-Sack who sighed and disappeared through the door, not wanting to look at her. Pixie put two and two together and guessed she must be the girl he talked about.

"Well you just made my morning a whole lot easier." She commented, walking Pixie's way. "Thanks for cleaning, I'm Cherry."

"Nice to meet you, Cherry, I'm Pixie."

"Your old man is lucky to have such a hardworking old lady." She smiled.

"Oh, I'm a Son." Pixie corrected her with a smile, reaching for her kutte and putting it on.

"No way. Girls can't be Sons."

"Sure they can." Pixie nodded. "You just have to be stubborn enough. You want coffee?" Pixie asked her. "H is making some now."  
"Sure, tell him I'm sorry, would you?"

Pixie nodded and headed to the kitchen where she found Half-Sack nervously chewing on a straw. "Cherry's sweet. She says she's sorry, looked crestfallen when you walked away."

"Yeah, I don't know what to do." Half-Sack said anxiously pacing up and down.

"Talk to her, that's the only way you both are gonna move forward. She really likes you."

"Yeah, you think so?"

"Duh, H, you're a catch! Go bring her some coffee, yeah?"

He nodded, a little more confident. "Yeah. Thanks, Pix."

Pixie headed back out, just as Happy strode out with a beautiful blonde woman under his arm who was most definitely topless.

"What up, killer?" Happy greeted Tig with a triumphant smirk, knowing Tig was grumpy because he missed the party.

"I hate all of you." Tig rolled his eyes, pretending to be jealous.

"Happy!" Pixie grinned, running to him. Pixie had intended to just give him a hi-five, but Happy surprised everyone, even himself, by lunging forward and pulling Pixie into a tight hug on instinct, lifting her up. She giggled and he spun her around before setting her down again and ruffling her hair.

"Cause any trouble?" He asked her gruffly.

"We gained one more asshole than when we left, I got into a Mayan fight and I just scared Half-Sack by doing my Samara impression, complete with the weird crawl thing."

Happy smiled and snorted. "Love that film."

"Right?! It's a classic."

"Coffee?"

"Kitchen, Half-Sack's brewing." Pixie pointed the way and both Happy and the woman headed off there.

"What do you mean you 'gained an asshole'?" Clay said striding back in from the open doorway with a fat cigar in his mouth.

"Tig got bit in the ass by a doberman on crack." Pixie clarified.

" _What_?" Clay grinned, looking over to Tig for clarification.

"Idiot here gave Unser's guard dog crack instead of sleeping pills and my ass paid the price." Tig said slapping Juice's shoulder.

Clay let out a deep chuckle, shaking his head. "Next time check, or better yet, run faster. And the Mayans?"

"Bastards at a gas station that harassed Pixie when she first came through Nevada to get to us."

"Deaths?"

"No, just a lot of bruised Mayan egos." Tig nodded.

"Good. Any other problems?"  
"Truck's out back, so nope, all good." Juice put in. "Pixie also stopped Tig and I from fighting, I can see why she made it to VP. She's good under pressure and literally kicked my ass." He chuckled before wandering over to the couches.

Clay nodded. "Sounds like you stepped up to the challenge then, what happened with the Mayans when they first got you?"  
"Got lost, found the bastards and they tried to run me off the road, there were two of them, so I pulled off to ask them what their deal was and they got aggressive real fast, said I would have to give them sexual favours if I wanted to pass through their town, so I forcefully said no and backtracked the hell away from there."

"How forceful we talking here?"

"Broken nose, slashed tyres, black eyes and I stomped one of the guys' ankles but it didn't break. I was mainly trying to get them to leave me alone and making sure they wouldn't tail me again, or at least hold them off until I could lose them on the roads."

"Shit. They're gonna want payback."

"That's what the gas station fight that caused the broken wrist was about." Pixie nodded.  
"Keep a low profile, in fact, you're grounded whilst we're up here. Last thing we need is a Mayan swarm going after you. You're definitely on their kill list." Clay growled.

"I kinda expected that." Pixie nodded, looking down at the floor.

Clay sighed. "Apart from that, you did a good job, don't screw up the rest of our time here and I'll overlook the incident."

Pixie smiled hopefully. "Okay, I'll be on my best behaviour." Pixie saluted, then yawned. "Besides, I think I'm too tired to cause chaos."

"Rooms are in the back, go get some rest." Clay ordered before wandering back outside.

Pixie heard a small snore and realised Juice had passed out on a black sofa. "Guess I'm not the only one." She giggled.

"We've been up all night." Tig agreed. "Why don't we nap together? I'd feel better if I was able to keep an eye on you."

"I'd like that, you getting all protective wolf on me?" Pixie flirted, raising an eyebrow as she grabbed her bag.

"As always, baby girl." Tig flirted back, grinning. He took her hand and lead Pixie down the corridor. They found an unoccupied bed and pulled the duvet up, not wanting to sleep under the sheets. Pixie took her boots off and watched Tig do the same, she liked how methodical he was with it, doing the same pattern of loosening the laces on both boots. They hung their kuttes up together and Pixie giggled when Tig used the opportunity of her stretching upwards to tickle her. He sat down on the bed and took his belt off so the big metal buckle wouldn't dig into him as he slept. Pixie went to the bedside table and reached into the waistband of her jeans and pulled out two small flat throwing knives, setting them down.

Tig did a double take. "Where the hell did you get those? Are you magic now?"

Pixie giggled. "No silly, I have a hidden holster which I wear under my jeans so no matter what, I always have a blade on me, even if I have to surrender my more obvious weapons."

Tig nodded. "That's smart, angel."

"I also have one in my prosthetic too." Pixie explained sitting down next to Tig, pulling up her right trouser leg and pointing out the thin blade taped to the underside of the shin piece.

"That's hot." Tig grinned jokingly. Pixie laughed and rolled her eyes, standing up to brush her hair back and tie it up into a ponytail, grabbing her hairbrush from her bag. Tig watched her, mesmerized by her long dark hair as she tied it out of the way. He leant forwards and put his fingers through her belt loops to pull her to him so she straddled his lap and Tig thought about how perfectly she fit against him.

"Hi." Pixie murmured shyly, a joyful smile playing on her lips.

"Hi." Tig murmured back, catching his lips with hers and kissing her thoroughly. He could feel Pixie physically relax into his arms and Tig felt his world melt away until it was just him and Pixie in this one moment in time. He could feel Pixie's heartbeat drumming along with his, making their own music and Tig was sure it was one of the best things he'd ever heard. He broke the kiss and grinned down at Pixie's flushed and happy face, Tig flopped backwards so he was lying down, pulling Pixie down with him so she lay on his chest, she giggled and kissed along his jaw line, then down his neck, then wriggled to get further up so she could kiss all over his face. Tig laughed at the soft sensations and how playful Pixie was. He flipped them, rolling so Pixie was under him and copied her until Pixie was squirming under him, laughing and squealing and he had to stop because he couldn't keep from chuckling.

"I love your laugh." Tig murmured nuzzling her. "It's so happy and carefree."

"I love yours too, its loud, like you." Pixie smiled at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tig growled playfully.

"I can usually hear you from like three rooms over at the clubhouse." Pixie giggled.

"You been spying on me, little miss?" Tig joked catching her wrists in his hand and gently pinning them above her head.

"No, but I agree with Chibs, you should paint your kitchen red." Pixie giggled.

Tig was confused for a second, and then recalled a conversation a couple of weeks ago where he'd been telling Chibs about wanting to renovate his house but not wanting to do it on his own, they'd discussed kitchen colours. "Red, huh? Looks like we've got a little snooper on our hands."

"It's not my fault, I have sensitive hearing and I didn't want to drown you out 'coz I love your voice and listening to what you have to say." Pixie objected playfully.

"You're so cute, but you're still a little snooper, and you know what snoopers get around here?" Tig growled, Pixie's eyes widened as he sat up and looked at her, doing his best to keep a scowl on his face before he suddenly grabbed the hem of her t-shirt lifted it up and blew a raspberry on her stomach. Pixie let out a yelp of shock before bursting into a fit of giggles as she tried to fight him off. Tig pulled up her t-shirt a little higher so he could have another look at her tattoos. Pixie's reaper was what caught his eye first, it was your typical Sons reaper with its skeletal head and body and had a scythe held in one hand. The cloak that surrounded the reaper had been done in a dark purple and blue watercolour effect, complete with little splashes and drips where the tattoo faded at the bottom. The ball with the "A" anarchy symbol which was held in the reaper's other hand had also been done to look like a crystal ball with black smoke inside, making the red "A" stand out eerily. The whole thing covered the right side of Pixie's rib cage and Tig had to give her props considering that was one of the most painful places to get a tattoo.

"Your reaper is beautiful." Tig murmured. The more he stared at it, the more detail he saw, like the stars that gleamed on the dark blue patches of the cloak.

"I designed it myself." Pixie smiled, I didn't want just a classic reaper, it had to mean something and be as unique as me.

"You draw?" Tig smiled, excited to learn something new about Pixie.

Pixie wriggled out from under him and leant over the side of the bed, grabbing her backpack. She rooted through it until she pulled out a very battered looking purple A4 sketchbook which was bent and twisted from being stuffed at the bottom of her bag for so long. She straightened the spine a little and then flicked over a couple of pages until she turned it around, showing Tig the concept art for her reaper as well as for her other tattoos. They were rough sketches which had then been refined and painted in with watercolour and felt tips. Tig's eyes drew to the concept art for Pixie's crow and he chuckled how in the corner there was a small sketch of a cross-eyed crow with its tongue stuck out. "What happened here?"

Pixie leant over and chuckled. "I was trying to get the eyes right, they needed to be soulful, but it kept going wrong, I drew the cross-eyes first and then it made me laugh so I drew the whole thing as a break from trying to get my main crow right."

Tig turned the page where there was a sketch of three daisies, identical to the ones tattooed over Pixie's heart. "That's a tribute to two of my childhood friends."

"That's really sweet." Tig nodded, he stroked the side of Pixie's face and she let out a yawn. He put the sketchbook on the side and tapped her prosthetic. "Take it off sweetheart and let's try and get some sleep, yeah?"

Pixie nodded and pulled up her trouser leg. She expected Tig to lie down, but instead he shuffled over to her to see what she was doing, watching intently as she took off the prosthetic, showing him the process and what each part was. He asked questions and she could see him taking mental notes. "Why the sudden interest?" Pixie asked him once she'd taken off the compression sock and set everything on the side.

"I want to learn so I can help with anything and take care of you better."

Pixie's heart stuttered and she felt herself blush. "You wanna take care of me?"

Tig pulled her into his arms as they lay back together. "Of course I do. I know you're able to take care of yourself, but sometimes it's nice not to have to do that all the time, and I want to be there for when that happens."

Pixie wriggled around until she could see Tig's face. "I wanna be there for you too, Tiggy."

Tig chuckled. "You already are, I mean you sewed me up, you've told me off when I've been an asshole and you cheered me up when I got grumpy, I want to do the same for you, I want to be there for every mood you have, including raunchy." Tig said with a wink, making the mood lighter. Pixie giggled and snuggled up against him, tangling their legs and then slid her hand under his shirt.

"Me too. I want to get to know _every_ part of you." Pixie said with a little wink.

" _Baby girl_." Tig groaned, once again feeling the spike of arousal. "You're gonna be the death of me, I swear. There's only so much teasing I can take, and I can't believe me of all people is about to say this, but, we need to take a nap, now isn't really the best time, and I don't want our first time together to be on a dirty bed in a Nevada clubhouse."

Pixie giggled. "You started it." She stuck her tongue out at him and Tig decided he was most definitely going to have his hands full with Pixie. "But okay, I agree." Pixie nodded. She twisted up and kissed him, before settling down again and snuggling into his side as both of them started to drift off.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	32. Patch Over Episode: Chapter 8

**Semi-smut with Tig and Pixie.**

Tig awoke feeling a soft, warm lump against his side and under his right arm. He opened one eye to peer down at content and heavily asleep Pixie. She was clinging onto him like a limpet, her right arm around his stomach, her left hand behind his shoulder and she had her legs curled up around his. He smiled to himself as he made to stretch and Pixie let out a small whimper, clinging onto him harder as she sensed his movements. "I'm not going anywhere, darlin'." He soothed, rubbing her back gently with his hand that cradled her. For the first time in a while, he felt completely content and undeniably loved. Right now, at this moment, he was Pixie's rock and he could see under all her armour, her face free of worry and blissful as she snuggled against him. Tig wished he could capture this moment forever, keep it somewhere safe so it would never be corrupted by the chaos that was the rest of their lives. He also realised that he would probably, no _definitely_ , jump in front of a bullet for this girl. She was quickly becoming the centre of his universe, and his reason for persevering. Pixie was everything he'd ever wished for in a partner, she was kind, funny, charismatic, intelligent and just the right amount of crazy. She had a ride or die type of personality and Tig firmly wanted to be there for the ride.

"Hmm, sunshine." Pixie mumbled in her sleep.

Tig chuckled quietly. "Sunshine? Is that what you're dreaming about?" He asked her, seeing the happy smile on her face.

She snuggled him a little tighter upon hearing his voice. "Safety." Pixie mumbled.

Tig's heart melted. "Always, angel, you're _always_ safe with me." He whispered to her, sincerity ringing true in his voice. He put both arms around her protectively. Pixie could fend for herself, he knew that, he'd seen that, but it still didn't mean she needed to fight her battles on her own all the time. He was glad she knew she could depend on him to make her feel safe, and for him to be her safety. Pixie yawned and stretched suddenly, lifting up her head to look up at him, her eyes shiny and unfocused from sleeping.

"Good afternoon, angel, you sleep good?"

"Mmhmm. Time?"

Tig checked the clock. "Half three. We'll get up when you're ready."

"Hmkay." She put her head down and yawned again. "You sleep well?"  
"Yeah, had my little teddy bear with me all morning." Tig smiled he pulled her up a little way so he could kiss her.

"This is nice." Pixie said after a moment. "Can we stay here forever?"

"I wish, doll."

"You make a good pillow." Pixie chirped, resting her head on Tig's shoulder.

"Glad I could be of service, miss." Tig chuckled. "What were you dreaming about?"

"Riding my bike with you, we were going up some hill, probably around Charming. We reached the top and pulled off to watch the sunrise and there were these two crows in a tree, but the tree was growing red roses. One of the crows broke a rose off and gave it to the second one and I was cuddling with you. Then the wind blew and red rose petals flew everywhere like snow and it was really pretty." Pixie explained.

Tig was silent for a moment visualising the dream. "That's beautiful, doll."

"I wish I had more dreams like that. I think you're my dream catcher, keeping all the nightmares away."

"You do the same for me too, baby girl." Tig said honestly, smiling as Pixie gently poked his ribs. "What are those little hands up to?"

"Exploring." Pixie beamed before pulling his shirt up a little so she could see the skin there.

"What are you hoping to discover?" He nuzzled the top of her head as she pulled his shirt up a little higher.

Pixie shrugged. "You." She looked up at him with a hope-filled cheeky little smile. Tig decided to entertain her so he gently shifted Pixie to the side and sat up, pulling his shirt off and then laying back down. Pixie let out a little "oooh!" and peppered kisses all over his chest and stomach, stroking his scars and kissing them gently too. Tig bit his lip feeling overwhelmingly accepted, surprising himself when he didn't feel the usual bite of low self-esteem. That was one of the reasons he had a reputation for being good at sex, he usually kept his partner as busy as possible so that when they looked at him, they were too overwhelmed to actually _see_ him. But Pixie was _seeing_ him, and she was making him fell good about it, so he let her explore instead of distracting her. He liked watching the way Pixie studied his tattoos and his scars, piecing together his history and accepting it with little kisses. He wasn't used to this personal attention, but he really liked it. "You're so handsome." Pixie murmured, looking up at him through her lashes.

"What makes you say that?" Tig asked with a smirk.

"You're unique and wonderful, inside and out." Pixie gently stroked his chest, feeling the soft hair there and the strong muscles underneath. Her hand skimmed down the plane of his stomach drawing lazy circles there and then going back up to caress his chest again.

"I could say the same thing about you, beautiful." Tig crooned. He flipped them so Pixie was under him and gently pulled the hem of her t-shirt, silently asking. Pixie blushed a little and took it off, revealing her torso and dark blue sports bra. Tig kissed her stomach again, but this time there was an absence of the playfulness that came with them earlier, instead there was pure lust and adoration. He kissed Pixie's lips tenderly whilst his hands roamed, exploring their newfound territory. Pixie hummed into the kiss as Tig stroked her side and he was reminded of a purring kitten. He slowly stroked upwards until his rough fingertips brushed the side of Pixie's breast hidden under her bra.

"This okay, darlin'?" He murmured, breaking the kiss and resting his forehead on Pixie's. She nodded eagerly and he advanced slowly, making sure Pixie was on the same page and he wasn't rushing her. Finally he cupped her breast fully in his broad hand and gently massaged, seeing how Pixie would respond. She took in a breathy gasp and wriggled in pleasure under his touch. Tig smiled, excitement in his eyes at being able to see this intimate part of Pixie's character. "You like that, Princess?" He purred. Pixie nodded, cheeks flushed as he kissed her again and she wrapped her arms around his neck loosely so she could gently caress his hair and shoulders. He readjusted so he could switch hands and gave Pixie's other breast some TLC. Pixie let out a small moan, squirming under him and Tig chuckled at her adorable reactions, though that little moan sent heat coursing through his body and he added it to the ever growing list of "hot things Pixie's done" that he'd started putting together in his mind.

"Mmm...Tiggy." Pixie murmured and Tig almost lost it, the way she said his name in that interesting English accent of hers had his mind reeling and his body pushing for things to go further.

" _Baby_." He crooned, he gave her a final kiss and then leant back a little, stopping the make-out. "We're gonna have to bookmark this for a later date, before we take it all the way." He sighed. Pixie looked up at him in frustration, but there was understanding on her face.

"I hate that you're right, but I agree, it's not the time or the place to go that far. Still doesn't mean I'm not grumpy at you for making me feel really good and then cutting it short. You bet your butt I'm getting payback." Pixie huffed, though Tig could see the happy, mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Hey, don't think of it as me cutting it short, think of it like..." He trailed off for a second, thinking. "Like a sneak peek, or a taster of what's to come." He murmured lowly in her ear. A shiver ran down Pixie's spine at his words and she blushed.

"Can I put an express order in?" She smiled. "Because I think I'm gonna be a loyal customer."

Tig chuckled. "I'll speak to the management, baby doll." He kissed her forehead and got up off the bed, stretching and Pixie sighed, knowing their time together was over for now. She moved to her prosthetic and Tig came to watch her put it on, helping her roll up the baggy trouser leg. Once it was in place, a wicked idea formed in Pixie's mind and she suddenly stood up, put her hands on Tig's chest and pushed him against the wall, she kissed his neck, and then bit down, not hard enough to leave a mark, but enough to get his motor running.

"Shit, baby." He growled, reaching for her, but she ducked out of his grasp and darted from the room with a cheeky grin on her face. "Payback!" She called out to him. Tig took a breath to calm his beating heart, Pixie had found his weakness and that meant that he was in for some serious teasing. He grinned to himself, knowing he'd love every moment of it as he followed Pixie out the door.

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie was messing around with Juice and Bobby at the bar bopping along to ACDC and chatting about Pixie's adventure with the Mayans. Tig had mostly stayed away from Pixie after they got up, chatting with a few of the Nevada Sons, and Pixie wondered if he was keeping a distance so he wouldn't go back on his resolve to not progress things whilst they were staying up here. He had his sunglasses on and cradled a beer bottle in one hand and was frowning down at the floor, deep in thought. Pixie decided to leave him be and turn her attention back to Bobby who was telling her and Juice about how he got into doing his Elvis side business. Once he was done, Pixie looked around the room, suddenly realising she was down a brother.

"Bobs, where's Jax?" She asked anxiously.

"You've got your radar running again. Relax, he went out earlier on a ride, don't blame him, the weather is perfect today." Bobby explained.

Pixie did a double take. "You let him go, _alone_? In Mayan territory? Are you serious?"

"He knows where the boundary lines are, Jax is smart." Juice put in, trying to ease Pixie's concern.

"Yeah, but he's VP, that makes him an even bigger target than everyone else except Clay. If the Mayans even get wind of him being out alone, they'll go after him. Trust me, I've dealt with rival clubs before, I know how that goes."

"You had rivals in Highton?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah, they were a club in Liverpool called the 'Black Breams'. It's a type of aggressive fish found in British waters. They were constantly trying to encroach on our territory and whenever any of us stepped over their line, they would attack on site."

"Sounds nasty, I'm sure Jax'll be fine, he'll probably be heading back anyways." Bobby patted Pixie's knee. Clay sauntered in from outside and made a beeline for the trio. Bobby picked up two empty shot glasses and put them over his eyes, pulling a goofy face at Pixie to cheer her up. To his delight, it worked and she giggled, making a funny face back.

"Any trouble?"

"Nah, everything's good for the moment." Juice informed him. Clay caught sight of Bobby and shook his head with a grin before looking over to where Tig was sitting in the corner.

"He still pouting?"

"Who? Tiggy? Why don't you give him the sweetbutt?" Bobby said jokingly and Pixie shifted slightly uncomfortably on her stool.

"Nah, I'm good with Half-Sack. That score's settled." Clay said pulling up a stool next to Pixie and sitting down. As soon as he did, his phone rang and Clay sighed, knowing he wasn't going to catch a break any time soon. "Where the hell are you?" He responded after checking the caller ID. Pixie spotted it was Jax and perked up immediately, further worried by the fact that Clay had no clue where his step-son was.

"Yeah, looks like Jury's gonna have some backup when the Mayan shit goes down." Pixie caught Jax's response on the phone and her eyes widened, looking at the other two as her stomach sank.

"What are you talking about?" Clay growled with a resigned expression on his face.

"I'm on my way back, and I'm not alone." Jax answered.

"Shit." Clay responded, slamming his phone shut and standing up. "Mayans!" He bellowed out to the rest of the clubhouse.

"Where?!" Tig was the first to respond, jumping to his feet and whipping his sunglasses off, tucking them into his kutte. The rest of the Sons, both Charming and Nevada got up too, ready to listen to orders.

"Pack of 'em trailing Jax." Clay informed grimly, he turned to Juice and Pixie. "Get the goddamn truck out of sight."

"Got it." Juice called out, jogging out the door to move it.

The Nevada president, Jury, appeared out from one of the back rooms, looking to Clay for clarification on the situation. "Mayans? What do you want to do?" Jury asked, knowing Clay was the true leader here and was better equipped to handle crises such as these.

"Weapons, behind the bar." Clay commanded.

"Pack it up." Someone called the order and everyone began to clear the tables and prepare for the battle which was about to ensue. Pixie ran to the bedroom, grabbing her bandolier and holsters from her bag and strapping them on, her heart beating with the rush of adrenaline. She reappeared just as Half-Sack instructed Cherry and another blonde woman to leave before they got caught up in the Mayan drama. Pixie went to the bar and quickly helped the Sons clear away the bottles and breakables. Tig was immediately at her side and they exchanged a glance.

"I'm not going with the other girls." Pixie stated firmly.

"Wasn't gonna ask you to doll, even though it kills me that you're staying."  
"We both have a job to do, Tiggie, we need all the manpower we can get, we don't know how many Mayans are after Jax."

"Yeah, I know, stay safe, okay, doll?"

"Yeah, and you better do the same, Trager, I care about you."

Tig smiled at Pixie's toughness and nodded, the pair of them getting back on task. Juice hurried back in and tossed the keys to Tig.

"The truck's parked round the back, you can't see it from the road." He stated. Clay and Tig both nodded and Tig clipped the key ring to his belt loop.

Once everything was cleared away and the furniture pushed back, Jury and Clay started handing out weapons to the Sons. Cherry reappeared and gave an uneasy glance to Pixie as she moved past her.

"What can I do?" She asked quickly.

Jury looked up from where he was loading a shotgun. "Girls all gone?"  
"Yep."

"Open up the garage." Jury instructed. Pixie was taking a liking to Jury, he was levelheaded and even in this frantic atmosphere, he still spoke to Cherry with a soft tone in his voice, helping her stay calm. Cherry nodded and sprinted out. "Move the bikes inside!" Jury called out to everyone. The Sons made hasty exists to pack their precious bikes away whilst Clay checked everyone had a weapon to use against the Mayan onslaught. Tig grabbed Pixie's hand and pulled her towards the doors.

"I'm keeping you with me, babe." He said quickly. Pixie nodded just as the first sounds of motorcycle engines could be heard. Jury and Tig rand to the front door, unlocking the second one so Jax would be able to get inside without stopping to get off his bike. Jury cracked the door open and Pixie backed up just as Jax appeared in the lot outside, his bike swerving on the gravel due to travelling so fast. He pulled it straight and roared into the clubhouse, leaving a tyre mark in the polished dark wood flooring. Jax quickly got off, undoing his helmet strap and taking off his brown leather satchel as he got down on the floor to get behind the bar to where Clay and Half-Sack were positioned. The roaring of bike engines stopped outside and for a second, there was silence. Then the first bullets rained down. They came shooting straight through the wooden plank walls and Tig turned and ducked, hauling Pixie in front of him to shield her from any strays as he pushed them down and away from the wall which was beginning to look like a sieve.

"Go.GO!" Clay yelled, both to the Sons in the clubhouse and to the ones he was on the phone to outside. The group had been large enough that they had been able to put together two ambush parties who would surround the Mayans and hopefully stop them. The group in the clubhouse all cocked their guns and exchanged wary glances with each other as they advanced towards the doors. Pixie felt her stomach tighten as she realised that fighting bullets with bullets, was most likely to get a load casualties from both parties and that didn't sit right with Pixie at all, she cared deeply for her Charming family and the Nevada Sons were quickly growing on her too. Her mind raced as she tried to come up with something, _anything_ that might turn this battle into their favour. As she glanced down, she spotted the truck's keys dangling from Tig's belt, and a thought formulated. She grabbed the keys, unclipping them, turning on her heels and sprinting as fast as she could to the back door, bursting through it as Tig called her name and swore. More gunshots and cries of pain sounded from round the front as Pixie launched herself at the truck, scrambling in, shoving in the keys and rolling down the driver's window as she started it up. The engine was still warm and it roared to life as she turned the wheel and slammed her foot down on the accelerator and changed gears. The truck lurched forwards and sped quickly through the gravel as she drove the opposite way to the gunfight to gain enough distance to be able to charge at the Mayans and give them time to get away if they knew what was good for them. Inside the Clubhouse, The group heard the roar of the truck's engine and Clay looked over in bewilderment at Tig.

"Don't ask me, I have no clue." He answered before they stormed out the door and took cover behind the cars in the lot. Jax and Tig looked over to see the truck further down the road as it turned and began accelerating towards the Mayan attackers in the road.

"MOVE IT OR LOSE IT, BITCHES!" Pixie's voice cracked over the truck's tannoy system and she honked the horn. Everyone including the Mayans looked up to see the truck barrelling down the road towards them, with Pixie at the wheel, a manic grin on her face. The majority of the Mayans took one look at the truck and over at the army of Sons who began firing at them again (once they got over the shock of what they were seeing) and took off, not liking their chances. Only one Mayan remained who aimed his semi-automatic rifle at the clubhouse and Pixie realised he was going to get a direct hit on Jury. She kept her right hand steady in the wheel and picked up her gun in her lap with her left, leaning out the window, took aim, and fired, hitting the Mayan's hand which held the rifle. He dropped it and screamed in shock as the bullet went clear through. He turned around and saw the speeding truck and realised that if he wanted to get out of this without being roadkill, he needed to move, _Now._

"You people are loco!" The Mayan screamed and took off, speeding away without even a second glance behind him. Pixie slammed the breaks and pulled up, turning off the engine. Clay, Jury, Jax and Tig got out from behind the cars and ran over to the truck.

"Everyone good?" Pixie grinned as she opened the door and jumped down.

"Holy fucking shit, you're crazy. You're actually fucking crazy." Jax laughed in amazement.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Clay put in.

"That if I didn't do something, we were gonna end up with more casualties and I've already sewn up one ass today, I don't want to sew up another." Pixie grinned.

Jury pushed past Clay and put his hands on Pixie's shoulders.

"You saved my life, kid. Thank you." He said gently, before hugging her tightly and then letting her go.

Pixie shrugged. "Welcome, I was just doing my job."

"You know, when Clay told me he had a girl for a prospect, I thought it was insane, but after seeing you today, I'm starting to think it's insane _not_ to have a girl in the ranks, especially when they come up with plans like that."

"It wasn't really a plan, more like a panicked scramble to see if I could do something to pull the showdown in our favour."

"And bringing a truck to a gunfight was what you came up with?" Jax laughed.

"Brains before bullets." Pixie smiled back, she saw a glow in Jax's eyes as she cited the motto his dad had put in place for the Sons.

Tig couldn't stand back any longer and burst forwards picking Pixie up and hugging her close to him. "Jesus Christ, I'm so glad you're okay, doll."

The rest of the Sons were now gathering around the truck and Pixie, some had minor bullet wounds both nothing serious. Juice and Happy were next to congratulate and hug Pixie, now that the adrenaline rush was wearing off, everyone was feeling a triumphant buzz.

"I'm surprised they didn't shoot at you." Juice said once he'd let her go.  
"I think they were so shocked they didn't know what to do." Jax chuckled. Pixie took in the state of the wounded and knew her job wasn't done yet.

"Everyone with a wound, meet me in the kitchen, I can patch you guys up." Pixie stated.

"There's extra supplies inside you can use too." Jury volunteered. Pixie nodded and walked inside with the wounded trailing along behind her. Tig, not wanting to leave Pixie's side, went with them under the pretence of helping Pixie patch up the injuries. Pixie got to work, wiping down the surface and Tig grabbed her first aid kit as well as the supplies from Jury.

Pixie worked on the men one at a time, making sure she had done everything for them before she sent them off and asked for the next one. For the most part, there had just been flesh wounds with clear entry and exit wounds which she was able to stitch close and dress. One Son had been shot in the shoulder and the bullet was lodged there. Rather than risk hurting him more, Pixie padded the wound and got Tig to inform Jury a hospital trip would be needed. She made each Son feel better with her sweet bedside manner and giggled when they raved about her truck stunt and how she was able to make the impossible shot to the Mayan's hand to save Jury's life. When Pixie had seen everyone, she sighed in relief and tidied away the medical waste with Tig's help. Then the pair wandered out and stood next to Clay, watching as a sheriff finished speaking to Jury, he clapped the officer on the back affectionately and the sheriff put away his notebook and left. Jury made his way over, a grim expression on his face.

"Cleared his booking debt, we're good." Jury nodded. Pixie wondered how much that was going to cost just so they could keep the shootout on the down low. "What happens now? I'm probably going to lose more guys 'cause of this."

Clay nodded, understanding Jury's worries. "Well, there won't be another hit for a while. That uh- that pop off was more about dick size. They just want us to know they're watching. That and our little psycho over here did a pretty good job of scaring them off. They won't be bothering you anytime soon." Clay informed him, clapping Pixie on the back. Pixie blushed a little, not used to receiving praise from Clay.

Jury smiled affectionately at her and shook her hand. "I can't thank you enough for stepping in today. Not only did you save me, but you took care of my men, my family when they needed it most."  
"It's the least I could do." Pixie said bashfully.

"How long have you been a Son?" Jury asked.

"Six years give or take, I was VP at my last charter in England and now I'm prospecting over here after it was taken down."

Jury did a double take. "What? Clay's making you prospect? With talent like yours, I'd happily accept you as a fully fledged member. In fact, if you wanted to, you could always transfer up here, we need new blood like yours."

Pixie looked up at him, shocked. "Really?" she looked around at her Charming brothers, at Juice, Jax, and Tig and she knew the decision wasn't even on the table. "Thank you, I mean that, Jury, but I think my home is Charming, they're my family."  
Jury nodded gently. "Well, if you ever change your mind, there will always be a spot for you."

"That's comforting to hear, thank you Jury. You're a good president."

"Vegas said he'll stick around for a while." Jax told him, trying to ease the worry in the older man's eyes.

"Appreciate that." Jury smiled.

"Brother." Clay said standing up and offering Jury a big hug. Jury accepted and the men slapping each other's back affectionately before letting go.

"Sister." Jury grinned at Pixie, offering her a hug as well.

Pixie accepted and murmured to Jury. "Everything's gonna be okay, mate, you'll get through this."

"Thank you, sweetheart." Jury smiled warmly and released her to hug Jax.

"I'm sorry about all this, man." Jax whispered to Jury.

"It's alright, son." Jury soothed. Pixie knew Jax felt uncomfortable about patching over the Devils, but his apology seemed more weighted than that and Pixie took note of it to question Jax when the time was right. Clay seemed to get the vibe too as he put his hand out and stopped Jax from walking off, pulling him back to face him.

"You want to tell me what happened out there?" He hissed. Pixie stood back from them, keeping her head down.

"I went for a ride to clear my head, and the Mayans spotted me. You saw the rest." Jax ground out. Bobby and Tig exchanged glances and went over to Jax and Clay, gauging the situation. Pixie felt a hand on her arm and looked up to see Juice.

"We need a little talk, bud." He smiled and led her to a quiet corner.

"What's up, J?"

"Clay's making me stay up here to monitor the AK assembly, probably punishment from when I didn't do it right the first time."

"That sucks, you know how long for?" Pixie looked at him, crestfallen.

"Not sure, but I'll call you and you better keep me updated on what you've been up to."

"You too, I'm gonna miss you like crazy, bro." Pixie hugged him tightly and buried her face into his chest. Juice wrapped his arms around her tightly and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm proud of how you acted today, it was crazy as hell, and you risked your life, but you saved countless people and patched up the unlucky ones." Juice comforted her.

"Proud of you too." Pixie smiled up at him and he let her go, they both wandered back to where Jax, Bobby, Clay and Tig were standing discussing plans.

"Oh, I got some, uh, helpers for you." Clay grinned, poking Tig in the chest jokingly, Tig looked confused until Clay pointed to where three blonde women walked out from the back rooms with their arms around each other. Each one was beautiful and scantily dressed as they looked alluringly up at Tig. Tig's jaw hit the floor at the prospect of having a night with the three attractive women and he felt torn. On the one hand, all he really wanted to do was spend that time with Pixie, she was the only girl he was interested in at the moment, but at the same time, they were trying not to take things too seriously and keeping their relationship on the down low until they were sure Clay was well and truly impressed with Pixie and was willing to patch her. He eyed Pixie who was refusing to look him in the eye. "Tig? You good?" Clay barked, bringing him out of his thoughts. On instinct, he moved towards the three blondes.

"I love you guys!" Tig said automatically as the three blondes wrapped themselves around Tig and led him down the corridor. Juice swore under his breath and Pixie bit down on her bottom lip, she was just about to move past Juice to leave when Tig's voice could be heard from further down the corridor. "Nope. Nope. Nope." He said walking back, minus the three girls. "Can't do it. I'm sorry, Clay, but there's no way I can do that. My heart's not in it." He explained striding over to where Pixie was looking up at him. "Pixie, baby doll, you're the only one I want." He picked her up bridal style and turned to the shocked group.

"Am I dreaming, or did Tig Trager just pass up an orgy?" Bobby said in disbelief.

"Are you sure, Tig?" Clay looked at him in complete confusion."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure." Tig smiled down at Pixie who giggled, blushing. "You're just gonna have to buy me a case of beer instead." Tig walked over to the couches and sat down with Pixie in his lap. He kissed her tenderly. "I'm sorry for going with the girls, I panicked and ran on instinct because I wasn't sure how open you want us to be around Clay, but it just felt so wrong, the total opposite of how it feels right now." Tig explained.

"You scared me for a moment there, it really hurt, but I'm glad this is the option you chose."

"Me too." Tig nuzzled her.

Pixie caught sight of Jax talking to Clay and making for the exit. "Do me a favour, can you wait here for a second? I think I need to have one of my conversations with Jax. There's something not right."

"I was thinking you might need to, go do your thing, baby." Tig nodded, letting her go. Pixie blew him a kiss and jogged out after Jax. She found him walking towards Happy and his Tacoma buddies.

"Jax? Hey, Jax." Pixie called out to him, he turned and caught sight of her.

"What's up kiddo?"  
"I want you to be honest, did you do something to make the Mayans chase you like that? Because you looked for all the world like a kid who kicked a hornet's nest." Pixie said, her voice low so Happy and the others wouldn't hear from where they loitered with their bikes. Jax's eyes widened.

"What the hell? Pixie I've already had this conversation with Clay, I didn't do anything, I swear." 

Pixie narrowed her eyes, stepping closer. "You swear? Or you promise?" She challenged Jax.

Jax looked at her for a second, and then grabbed the back of her kutte roughly and pulled her down the side of the clubhouse where they wouldn't be disturbed by wandering ears or eyes. "Alright, _fine_." Jax hissed. "But you cannot let this get out to Clay."

"I promise." Pixie said immediately, twining her pinkie with his.

"The Devils would never have been able to deal with the Mayans alone, they needed our help but Clay wouldn't listen to me. I went to a Mayan clubhouse and knocked their bikes over and got their attention so they'd chase me back to the clubhouse so we could get them to back off for a while. Wasn't expecting it to work as well as it did, especially with your truck intervention." Jax said truthfully.

Pixie pinched the bridge of her nose. "Are you kidding me Jax Teller?" Pixie hissed, hitting him on his arm. "That was such a reckless move! They could have shot you before you reached the clubhouse and then what would you have done then? You're VP! You should be smarter than this!" Pixie scolded him, shaken by Jax's revelations.

"I'm sorry, okay! Jury's family to me and I hated that Clay wasn't listening when I said he needed help with the Mayans. I had to do something."

"And it didn't cross your mind to tell someone? Anyone?"

"Who would I tell? I have to show loyalty to Clay or things will crumble."

"Next time, tell me. I get the kinds of pressures you're under, I've been there, and it's hard as hell."

"What would you have done in this situation?" Jax asked.

"Well, I wouldn't let Clay walk over me for starters, and I'd have sat down and planned the best line of attack, rather than taking it upon myself to leap into the situation and hope I don't die."

"Isn't that what Sons do? Leap and hope we don't die? You did that today with the truck."

"Brains before bullets, Jax. Be a better leader than Clay and people will respect and listen to you more, hell, I already do. Leaping should only be done in dire emergencies, like the one you caused today. And as a result, multiple people got hurt. You're lucky we didn't have any fatalities."

"I hate that you're right." Jax grumbled. "I'm sorry, okay?" it won't happen again. And, next time I have an issue, I'll come talk to you."

"Apology accepted, mate. Where are you off to now?" Pixie asked.

Jax felt relief from the subject change. "Home, I need to go see my kid. Happy's going up to Tacoma with his buddies if you want to say bye. He'll be coming back to visit soon though." Jax explained.

Pixie nodded and hugged Jax. "Be safe, okay? I care about you and I'll kick your ass if you put yourself through unnecessary danger again." She said firmly.

Jax laughed. "Noted, same for you, Pix."  
"Tell Abel I said 'hi'." Pixie smiled. Jax nodded and the two of them began walking off towards Happy and his group. Pixie reached him first and jogged over to where he was leaning against his bike. "Hey, Hap!"

"Kiddo."

"You weren't going off to Tacoma without saying 'bye' first, were you?"

Happy smiled as Pixie put her hands on her hips. He shook his head for 'no'. "You did good today." He answered. "Little maniac."  
Pixie giggled. "I guess you're rubbing off on me then, huh?"

Happy smirked. "Maybe."

"Or maybe, I'm rubbing off on you, seeing as you hijacked my kill." Pixie giggled, playfully poking Happy's buttons.

He growled. "Watch it, pipsqueak."

"Or what, you're gonna scowl me to death?" Pixie grinned. The corners of Happy's mouth twitched as he tried to suppress a smile and he stood up. He made a grab for her and she ducked under his arms, getting behind him. Happy spun on the spot and Pixie stuck out a finger and made to poke the shiny black of Happy's fuel tank.

"Don't you dare." Happy growled, but Pixie spotted a playful light in his eyes, almost like he wanted her to, just so they could continue playing around. She put her finger closer and then quickly swiped it across, leaving a little smudge and running off a little way from the group to see what Happy would do. He glared at her, then pounced, chasing Pixie and she ducked and weaved, giggling hysterically. Eventually Happy managed to get a hold of her and lifted her up off of the ground, putting his hands under her arms, Pixie let out a squeal as he did so.

"Did you touch _my_ bike?" Happy growled loudly. The clubhouse door opened and Tig, Juice,Bobby and Clay came hurrying out to see what the commotion was about. They saw Happy holding Pixie up and yelling and Tig made to advance, but Jax stopped him.

"Relax, they're goofing off." Jax told them, turning, intrigued to watch as Happy swung Pixie around. She was giggling so hard it was coming out as hiccups and the peculiar noise made Happy laugh so bad he had to stop swinging her around so he didn't drop her. He wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug whilst they both tried to catch their breath.

"You better not touch my bike, brat." Happy warned, but he was grinning.  
"Oh you bet I'm gonna!" Pixie quipped back. She tried to wriggle free of his grip but he held her tightly, hauling her away from the bikes and towards Jax and the others. "You better come back to Charming soon." Pixie told him as he carried her.

"Oh you bet I'm gonna." He echoed her, a smile on his face. "Be good."  
"I can't promise that, but I'll try." Pixie joked as he put her down next to Tig. Happy nodded to everyone and said a gruff goodbye whilst Jax grabbed his bag and did the same. The group watched the travelling party disappear into the hills before going back inside to relax after the tumultuous day they'd had.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	33. Author's Note!

Thank you so much to everyone who liked and saved my story! It makes me ridiculously happy to see other people are enjoying reading it, as I am writing it. This next episodic section is mainly building bonds and foreshadowing for when things take a turn and Pixie will have to make a tough choice...


	34. Giving Back Episode: Chapter 1

It had been a couple of days since the Nevada trip and Pixie was glad it had been mainly uneventful. She missed Juice like crazy and they'd been calling each other most nights to make up for not hanging out as much until Juice was done with the gun business up there. Pixie had been giving Chibs small updates rather than telling him the whole truth as she didn't want to panic him, especially as she didn't know how serious his run was. She had a plan to give him whiskey and a cigar before she gave him a blow-by-blow of what had happened in his absence. It was a slow day for Pixie as she didn't have a shift at the garage and so she lay in bed for a little longer than usual before heading to have a shower and get changed. Metallica played in the background as she dried her hair with a white towel and jammed along. A heavy knock at her bedroom door sounded and Pixie turned the music down a little and went to answer it, still drying her long raven locks. She opened it to see Jax leaning against the door frame.

"What happened to your hair?" He laughed seeing it all damp and tangled.

"I washed it, just haven't tamed it yet." Pixie said turning to walk back in, knowing Jax would most likely saunter in after her, which he did.

"Got a plan to get you in my mom's good books." He said triumphantly, sitting down at the foot of her bed and picking up her bandolier which was sat on the footlocker.

"At the moment, I don't want to be in any of your mom's books." Pixie answered, walking into the bathroom to put the white towel away.

"Oh c'mon, she hasn't said anything to you for, like, a week now."

"And I'd like to keep it that way, I don't want to hurt her."

"Yeah, so getting into her good books is the perfect way to not do that." Jax grinned, knowing he was winning. He pulled a knife out of its sheath and toyed with the blade, feeling it in his hand and twirling it around.

"Does she even have a good book? I'm beginning to think your family doesn't read." Pixie joked, walking back in with a hairbrush and a red scrunchie around her wrist. She tipped her head forwards so her hair dangled down and brushed the tangles out.

Jax chuckled. "Yeah she does, you wanna hear the plan?"

"Sure, why not." Pixie said as she finished brushing all the tangles out and started gathering up her hair to tie it into a ponytail.

"So Gemma does these yearly fundraisers for the local school district at Charming High. She puts food out and does carnival type stalls and the Sons usually help out with it. You could come lend a hand tomorrow and do your usual people organising shtick and hopefully Gemma will see you're a good kid."

"Is this a ploy to get me to do unpaid labour?" Pixie teased, narrowing her eyes at Jax.

Jax laughed and put his hands up in a surrender motion. "Okay, you got me, we're short without Juice and Chibs, so we need a hand, but the Gemma thing is an added bonus."

"Okay, fine, I'm in." Pixie nodded grinning. "It's not like I had anything better to do." She giggled as she put her skull stud earrings in.

"Actually, there's one more thing I wanted to ask you to do." Jax grinned, still turning the blade around.

Pixie turned to face him, grabbing her boots and sitting down on the desk chair. "Oh yeah?"

"Wanna come hang out with me and Ope today? He's having a shed cleanout and I want to go get the baby crib he has and spend some down time with him."

"More unpaid labour I see." Pixie grinned and Jax rolled his eyes and threw a pillow at her. "I'm kidding, I'd love to hang out, It'll be nice to get away from club business for a bit and I like spending time with you both."

"Well aren't you sweet." Jax joked. "C'mon I'm heading out now if you wanna tag along." He stood up and looked at Pixie's blade in his hand and over at the dart board. "Can I?"

"Sure." Pixie shrugged, intrigued to see how good Jax's aim was. Jax eagerly lined himself up and took a shot, the knife spun badly and Pixie noted Jax's grip was a little off. It hit the board just under the number thirteen and sunk in a little way before gravity took over and it clattered to the floor.

"Damn, harder than it looks."

"I could teach you if you wanted?" Pixie offered, picking up the knife.

"Yeah, later, I wanna see you throw though." Jax said motioning to the board.

Pixie smiled. "Is your ego gonna be able to handle me beating you?" She teased.

Jax scoffed. "I don't have an ego, throw the damn thing."

Pixie giggled and positioned herself, covered her eyes with her spare hand to make it interesting, and then threw the knife.

She heard the knife hit and a startled "No way!" from Jax.

She uncovered her eyes and grinned seeing the knife sunk firmly into the bullseye. "Easy peasy." Pixie smirked, fetching the knife.

"You're such a showoff." Jax chuckled.

"Nah, I'm just cool." Pixie jested.

"Sure, sure." Jax quipped back, handing Pixie her kutte as the two of them began to walk out.

"You owe me breakfast." Pixie pointed out.

"Donna makes the best pancakes, you'll be fine." Jax informed her as they left, Pixie texted Tig to let him know where she'd be and they mounted their bikes. Pixie put her helmet on and revved her engine as Jax started his and they both drove down the lot, Pixie seizing the opportunity for a wheelie, popped one next to Jax.

"Showoff!" He called out to her, grinning.

Pixie liked how she was able to joke around like this with Jax. She put her wheel down and followed him out. They rode together through Charming and Pixie took in its quaintness, all the stores were little independent ones and people actually spoke to each other on the street. The townsfolk looked up Pixie and Jax roared past and some even gave small waves or nods of respect. Jax took Pixie down a sideroad towards the cluster of houses and then slowed down, signalling that they were close. They pulled up to a pale blue and white single story house which was clad in wood and a sizable front yard. Jax and Pixie parked up on the driveway and dismounted, walking to the front door where Jax knocked. The door opened a little way and Pixie spotted Kenny's little face as he peered round the door at them, recognising them both, he opened the door wider, then turned his head.

"Dad! Uncle Jax and the nice girl from the fair are here!" He called out into the house.

"Hey buddy!" Jax grinned, picking Kenny up and giving him a big hug. "Her name's Pixie." He stage whispered, ruffling the young boy's brown hair to make him chuckle before setting him down again.

"Hi, Pixie." He said shyly, offering his hand to shake.

Pixie giggled and they shook hands. "You been practicing your baseball throws? You ought to show Jax later." Pixie encouraged, looking over to Jax. "Kenny's really good." She enthused, making her the small boy smile and wriggle happily at the undivided attention. Large footsteps suddenly sounded on the hardwood floor and Opie appeared shirtless in jeans, boots and his usual grey beanie. He grinned widely at the trio.

"Hey, what's up?" He greeted them. Jax and Opie exchanged the macho head nod and Kenny looked up at his dad.

"Can I show Jax my baseball throw?"  
"Sure, bud, just don't throw it towards the house, yeah?"  
"Yeah!" Kenny exclaimed, grabbing Jax's hand and towing him to the backyard.

"He's a sweet kid." Pixie smiled. "Sorry for turning up unannounced, Jax just invited me this morning." Pixie explained, biting her lip.

"Actually," Opie said shutting the front door and leading Pixie through the house. "I asked him if you were able to come along. Ellie's been asking after you and I've been hearing some interesting stories about you." Opie chuckled.

"Aw, Ellie's lovely, I'm more than happy to spend time with her. What stories?"  
"Did you really prank the guys with your leg?"

"Oh yeah, that was fun." Pixie giggled. "Did Jax tell you?"  
"Yeah, he's impressed by you, talks about you like you're his younger sister or something."

Pixie smiled. "He really does have a sweet side under all that ego."

Opie laughed. "I like how you challenge him and don't take shit from anybody. But I gotta ask, did you really charge at a Mayan shoot out with a cargo truck?"

"Yep, that was pretty intense."

"Sounded like it." Opie said, Pixie picked up on a hint of wistfulness. "What went through your head to even come up with something like that?"  
"Mainly 'holy shit'." Pixie joked, making Opie chuckle as he lead her out the backdoor and leant against the wall, watching Jax and Kenny toss the baseball. "I was trying to think of something to do to prevent any more deaths, and minimise injuries. I saw the keys and it just hit me, so I literally ran with it."  
"You're good under pressure, that's useful."

"Yeah, you kinda have to be when you're a Son."  
"Amen to that."

"How are you doing, by the way?" Pixie asked, looking up at Opie who looked down at her in surprise.

"Good?" It came out as more of a question than an answer and Pixie suspected that he didn't get asked that often.

"I know we don't know each other that well, but I can see you're struggling with a lot right now. You can always talk to me about that stuff, I may not be able to relate completely, but sometimes, talking to someone new helps you see things from a different perspective."

"Yeah." Opie nodded. Pixie thought that that was the only thing she was going to get out of Opie, when suddenly he spoke up again. "I'm under so much scrutiny right now, I feel like I'm gonna explode. What with the club, Donna, the kids... It's coming at me from all sides and I don't know who I'm supposed to be or how to fix it." He said low and gruffly.

Pixie could feel the relief radiating off of him and she wondered how long he's been keeping his concerns inside for. "The only person you can be is you, Ope. You have to live your truth and stick to what feels right to you. If you try to be a different person, someone you're not, it just leads to heartache and it destroys you. You're a good dad, a good husband, and a good person. I see how much you care for people."

"I know, but Donna doesn't want me back in the club and I... it doesn't feel right not being in it."

"Donna's afraid of being away from you again, she got hurt in the fallout that sent you to jail, she doesn't want that to happen again because she doesn't want to lose you. You have to show her that you're there for her, and that you're doing what you think is right for your family, your whole family. Ease back into it, instead of going full force."

"What if she leaves me over it?"  
"She loves you, Ope, I see the way she looks at you. She wants to be with you no matter what and she's accepted you being in the club before, so there will be a way to find your way back. It just may take some time."

"Yeah. Thanks for the talk, I think I needed that." Opie nodded sincerely. "How are you so good at that?"

"I'm a people person, I guess." Pixie shrugged.

"You wouldn't have happened to have had one of these conversations with my dad, would you?" Opie suddenly looked at her, eyebrow raised.

"Piney? Yeah, I may have given him a piece of my mind." Pixie said wrinkling her nose a little, expecting Opie to get mad. "He was laying into you and it bothered me that he wasn't trying to help you more. Sorry."

Opie smiled. "Hey, I'm not mad, I was gonna thank you, he and I had a talk and he's trying to be more understanding I think, which is nice. Unusual, but nice."

Pixie nodded, relieved. "Okay good, you deserve to feel supported."

Opie smiled. "Thanks, kid. C'mon, let's make a start on that goddamn shed." He stood up straight and strode over to Jax and Kenny who were playing catch. "Ken, go ask your mom if she's up for making pancakes, tell her Pixie's here too."

"Okay!" Kenny nodded, he put his arms out straight and ran into the house pretending to be an airplane.

"You remember where you put the key for this thing?" Jax said striding over and investigating the rusty padlock.

"Nope, probably gonna have to take the door off." Opie sighed.

"Got any stiff wire?" Pixie piped up. Jax and Opie both turned to face her.  
"Please tell me you don't know how to pick locks." Jax laughed.

"I don't wanna lie to you mate." Pixie giggled.

"I've got wire in the garage, hold on." Opie chuckled, jogging off. Pixie walked over and inspected it, eyeing up the shape of the keyhole and guessing where the tumblers would be positioned inside. Opie reappeared with a wire bundle and Pixie went to work, bending and shaping it, then feeding it into the lock, focusing hard. Half a minute later, the lock suddenly sprang open and Pixie gave a little jump of triumph.

"How the hell did you learn how to do that?" Opie asked examining the wire as Pixie pulled it out and passed him the lock.  
"Nancy Drew, duh." Pixie smirked.

Jax shook his head chuckling as he helped Opie open the shed door and the three of them looked at the wall of dusty boxes and objects that faced them.

"This is fuller than I remembered." Opie thought aloud.

"When did you last open it?" Pixie asked.

"When Kenny was still in diapers."

"Shit." Jax laughed, he looked over to Pixie and then back at the boxes. "Does it intimidate you that some of these boxes are bigger than you?"

"Nah, I see it as a challenge." Pixie grinned back.

Opie grabbed the first big one and put in the ground a couple steps away from the shed, dusting off the label. "Oh hey, it's baby toys, maybe there's something in here for Abel?"

Jax nodded and wandered over to look it over before ditching his kutte on the patio table. Pixie followed suit,, not wanting it to get dusty then went to go help Opie grab more boxes as Jax pulled off his t-shirt.

"I remember your kids playing with some of these." Jax laughed pulling out an elephant plush.

"There may be some of my favourite toys from when I was a kid in there." Opie commented.

"What were they?" Pixie asked as she put down a box of blankets.

"My two favourites were a skateboard and a View Master." Opie recalled.

"Oh shit, yeah! I remember you took that View Master everywhere, remember when we used to ride our skateboards around town?" Jax asked, the nostalgia of his childhood gave him a soft smile as he recalled Charming summers where he and opie spend entire days out in the fields or messing around at the garage.

"Yeah, and our Raleigh Choppers." Opie reminisced. "I had a blue one and you had that red one until you crashed it. What were your favourite toys, Pixie?"

"I had a teddy bear which had green fur. I slept with it every night until I had to flee, but my favourite things to play with growing up was a silver zippo lighter and a metal baseball bat."

"Suddenly your crazy makes sense." Jax laughed, Pixie stuck her tongue out at him, then grabbed two smaller bokes stacked on top of eachother and moved them out of the way, so Opie could grab the bigger one they were sitting on top of.

"Wow, you're strong, those are full of manuals." Opie commented.

"Thanks, I think people see my height and think I'm gonna be weakling. Those people usually get punched." Pixie joked as she put the boxes down on the lawn.

"I like your attitude, people think I'm gonna be overly aggressive because I'm tall and bulky."  
"But you're just a sweet, gentle giant. And a deep thinker."

"Yeah, I guess." Opie said doing his overwhelmed look again.

Pixie playfully punched his arm. "Hey, you're a good person, don't spook yourself over the fact I'm being nice to you, or you're gonna end up having an existential crisis for the rest of the morning."

Opie chuckled and went to say something, but was interrupted by the backdoor opening and Ellie bursting out of it with Donna following close behind with a plate of pancakes.

"Pixie! You came!" Ellie squealed, running over to where Pixie was standing holding a box of hubcaps.

"I didn't know I was so popular." Pixie smiled, putting the box down to pull Ellie in for a hug.

"She's been talking about how cool you are nonstop since the carnival." Donna laughed. "Also, I brought pancakes if you guys are hungry."

"You said that like we're never hungry." Jax joked. The group descended on the pancake stack and pixie complimented Donna on how fluffy they were.

"Can I see your motorbike?" Ellie asked, eyes pleading, Pixie looked up to Opie.

"Sure, if that's okay?" Opie nodded.

"Of course! C'mon princess." Pixie smiled, taking Ellie's hand. Ellie immediately pulled her round to the side gate and then to the driveway, gasping when she realised Pixie had a bubblegum pink motorbike.

"So pretty!" Ellie said coming to examine it up close.

"Just like you, your dad tell you much about motorbikes?"

"No, he's been away a lot, mom says I'm not allowed to have one, but I like 'em. They're really loud and fast." Ellie said nonchalantly, running her fingers along the handlebars and looking at the engine.

"Wanna sit on mine?" Pixie asked.

Ellie looked up, eyes round and wide with happiness. "Yes, please!"

Pixie hoisted her up and onto the seat, then grabbed the handlebars to keep the bike steady for extra safety. Ellie's face lit up as she put her hands on the handlebars too and imagined riding it. "See, you're a natural." Pixie smiled.

"How fast does it go?"

"This model's top speed is supposed to be a hundred and five miles per hour, but I modded it to go faster, around a hundred and fifty if I really push."  
"What does 'modded' mean?" Ellie asked, scrunching up her nose.

"Make changes to. Think of the motorbike like a Lego kit, I simply swapped parts for better ones to make it go faster."

"Oooh, okay, I'm good at Lego. Kenny gets frustrated at it, so I always build the models for him."  
Pixie chuckled. "You're a good big sister, and that's a great talent to have, shows your smart and technical. You could be an engineer or a mechanic someday, or whatever you want to do."

"I think mechanics are cool. Did you play with Lego when you were younger?"

"Not really, I had some Lego, but I was mainly too hyper to sit still and do them."

Ellie giggled, looking at all the different parts of the bike.

"Why don't we show your dad? I bet it would make him super happy." Pixie asked.

Ellie gave a shy nod and Pixie tilted her head back. "YO! OPE!" She yelled, making Ellie giggle. "I think your uncle Jax is rubbing off on me." Pixie commented.

"He does say 'yo' a lot." Ellie agreed. Pixie heard the gate and then Opie, Jax and Donna came rushing through. "Sorry, didn't mean to call in the cavalry, just thought you guys should come see Ellie, she's a natural."

Opie looked at his young daughter on Pixie's bike and a big smile materialised on his face. "Wow sweetheart, you having fun?"  
"Oh yeah! Pixie can go a hundred and fifty miles per hour on her bike." Ellie informed them in the sweet yet emphatic way kids state facts they've learnt.

"Really? Thought the Old Glory only goes a hundred." Jax came over, ruffling Ellie's hair a little.

"She modded it." Ellie explained, proudly looking up at Pixie. "Mom, can you take a picture? I want it for my wall."

Donna smiled. "Sure thing baby, let me go get my camera."

Opie took over steadying the handlebars for Ellie and Pixie sat down behind her, naming the different parts and showing her how the motorbike worked. "What did you do to mod it?" Opie asked, intrigued.

"Put on lighter wheels, exhaust, power commander, adjusted the suspension, better tyres, and better breaks."

"Damn, that's a lot of work." Jax said impressed.

"Oh yeah, took me ages to get everything running smoothly, but it kept me out of mischief so the Highton mechanics were all for finding me the right parts."  
"Like Lego." Ellie nodded.

"Exactly, sweetheart." Opie nodded, encouragingly, loving that his daughter was being so talkative, especially with him.

Donna came back brandishing a camera and Opie let go of the bike so Pixie could pull the handlebars straight and balance it herself, keeping Ellie safe. They both smiled up at Donna who took a couple of shots so Ellie could choose a favourite. Once she was done, she patted Ellie's shoulder.

"Come on, you've got math homework to finish, honey." Donna chided.

Ellie tipped her head back and gave a dramatic sigh. "I hate math."

"Hey, don't say you hate something just because you find it hard. Think of it like a challenge, don't let it beat you. Besides, if you want to be a mechanic, you're gonna need maths."

"Okay, I'll try." Ellie nodded. Pixie got off and helped the younger girl dismount.

"Thank Pixie for showing you her bike." Donna reminded her.

"Thank you, Pixie." Ellie recited before taking her mum's hand and Donna took her back inside.

"You should see Pixie doing stunts, she's really good." Jax told Opie as the three of them began to walk back to the shed.

"Oh yeah? I wanna see that." Opie nodded enthusiastically.

"She's a real showoff so you'll probably see them at some point." Jax joked, giving Pixie a playful shove.

Pixie giggled. "You're still grumpy that I hit that bullseye with my knife."

Opie did a double take. "Knife?"

"Pixie knife throws, it's insane." Jax explained. "You should've brought them for Opie to see."

Pixie scoffed, reaching into her waistband and pulling the two knives she had hidden in her holster. "As if I wouldn't walk around unarmed."

This time it was Jax's turn for a double take. "Holy shit."

Pixie grinned. "If you give me a target, I'll throw them for you, Ope."

Opie nodded and grabbed a small log off the wood burning pile and put it on one of the larger boxes on the lawn. "Can you hit that?"

Pixie rolled her eyes. "You're gonna have to be more specific than that, where abouts on the log do you want me to hit?"

"Hit that little knoll in the middle." Jax said, pointing it out on the log.

Pixie nodded and took a couple of paces back before raising both her hands up, twirled the knives and then threw them, they mirrored each other as they flew together, arcing through the air before hitting home on the knoll. There was a brief pause before Opie barked out a laugh and went to retrieve the knives.

"You're a little assassin!" He said in slight disbelief as to what he'd just witnessed. Pixie giggled, slipping the knives back into their hidden holster.

"Pretty sure that that was what Bruce wanted me to be, considering all the extracurricular activities he got me into." Pixie grinned.

"You know, you scare me a little." Opie confessed with a chuckle. "Come on, let's get back to work." He made to walk over to the shed, with Jax when Pixie suddenly flipped into a handstand and walked across the lawn towards the shed like that.

"You're crazy." Jax laughed, grabbing Pixie around the middle and hauling her up the right way.

The three of them continued to empty the shed until they found the travel crib Jax was looking for. Donna came out with refreshments as he pulled it out, setting it down on the lawn.

"Hey Pixie, you'd fit in this." Jax smirked. "We could use it to keep you out of trouble."

Pixie rolled her eyes. "Ha ha, I'm small I get it. But let's not forget who knocked you on your ass, twice." Pixie said pushing his buttons right back.

Jax grinned, turning and squaring up to Pixie. "Oh you want a rematch, Pipsqueak?"

"Anytime, Teller." Pixie squared up to him as well and he grabbed her. Pixie flipped him using a Judo technique and Jax pulled her down with him, they rolled around in the grass laughing and play-fighting with each other until they were laughing too hard to do anything except lie there. Opie strode over and bent down, offering his hand to both of them and then pulled the pair upright.

"What you think of the crib?" He asked Jax as Pixie dusted herself off.

"Looks great." Jax said looking it over, it was blue with white mesh and had a red mattress decorated with little brown teddies all over it. It was certainly dusty and needed a good clean, but once he'd done that, he could see his son laying in there. "How much?"

"Aw, forget it, it's a gift." Opie said, picking it up and carrying it to his truck so he could load it for Jax. Jax watched Opie go and then turned to Donna, pulling out his wallet and handing over some bills.

"No Jax, I don't want it." Donna insisted, looking up at him with a stubborn look on her face.

"Hey. I'm the one gettin' the deal." Jax insisted. Knowing that there wa sno way she was going to win against Jax, Donna took the money with an appreciative smile. Jax caught up to Opie to help him through the gate whilst Pixie gathered up the empty glasses and plates on the table. Donna came over to help and the two of them put together two stacks and Pixie followed Donna as she took her share into the kitchen.

"I'll help you wash up." Pixie offered.

"Oh, no you don't have to." Donna said as she started up the taps and put the plug in.

"It's the least I could do considering you and Opie let me come hang out here." Pixie insisted.

"Well, if you're sure. How about you dry?"

"Sure." Pixie smiled, grabbing the dish towel. "You have a lovely family."

"Thank you, it's been tough settling everyone back in after Opie came home."

"The kids aren't used to him?"

"No, Kenny's doing better than Ellie, Opie's been doing baseball practice with him, but Ellie just shys away from Opie and it really hurts him, he doesn't know how to win her back."

"There's two boxes of motorcycle manuals and magazines out on the lawn, give them to Ellie to look over and get Opie to talk them through with her and explain stuff. It'll be a common interest that will help rebuild the bond they had before." Pixie suggested.

"Did Ellie really tell you she wanted to be a mechanic?"

"She has a natural interest for motorcycles, so I suggested it and she got excited." Pixie explained. Donna bit her lip and nodded. "What's up?" Pixie inquired gently.

"She's so much like her dad. I see her grow everyday and each time she seems to take a step closer to his path."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Pixie asked.

"It is and it isn't. I don't want her taking the route Opie took, the one that got him into jail."

"You don't want Ellie becoming involved in the club?"

"Exactly." Donna said gravely.

Pixie let out a breathy laugh of surprise. "Donna, the kid isn't even ten yet, you can't plan her future out and expect her to stick to it, especially when you said it yourself, she's growing everyday and forming her _own_ views and ideals. Ellie is a smart girl and a deep thinker, like Opie, she'll be successful at whatever she puts her mind to."

"You think so?"

"I know so." Pixie said firmly. A small smile appeared on Donna's face and she began to relax again. The two of them finished washing up, then went to check on Jax and Opie who were discussing when would be a good time for Opie to drop the crib off at Jax's house.

"I'm gonna head off and visit Abel, want us to put the boxes back in the shed?" Jax asked Donna.

"No, I want to sort through them and see if there's anything worth selling or donating first." Donna explained.

"There might be some stuff for the silent auction at the fund-raiser." Jax suggested.

"That Taste of Charming thing?" Donna asked warily.

"Yeah. I'm doing the fireworks." Opie informed her.

"Oh really?" Donna said, gritting her teeth.

"It's not a club thing, Donna." Opie insisted, looking to Jax for help.

"Yeah, my mom started it years ago. It raises money for the school district." Jax explained.

"We'll be there." Opie stated firmly. "Come on, it'll give me some time to hang with the kids." Opie pleaded, walking over to her. 

"Okay, we'll go for a little while." Donna said, giving in, she smiled up at him.

"Aight." Jax nodded. "See you guys, c'mon pipsqueak, you got a shift this afternoon."

Pixie nodded. "Thanks so much for having me over."

"You free this saturday evening?" Opie asked her.

"Yeah, what's up?" Pixie smiled up at him.

"Donna's favourite musical is playing at the theatre, I was thinking you could watch the kids whilst we have some time together." Opie explained, putting his arm around Donna and kissing her forehead.

"Sure thing mate, I'd be happy to watch them, and I promise you, I'll protect your family with my life, so you don't have to worry about that." Pixie said fiercely, and somehow Opie believed her.

"That's great." Donna said, a little bit of excitement in her voice. "I've been looking forward to going to that with you." She said to Opie. Pixie could see the utter love and devotion she had for him, it was written all over her face.

"Okay, well, I gotta go, you have my number, so any questions, or anything, lemme know." Pixie said taking her leave. She followed after Jax and put on her kutte whilst Jax put his t-shirt back on. She watched the road as a black car with chrome edging and tinted windows drove past a little slower than usual. She half-expected it to pull over, but it didn't, it just kept rolling before speeding up as it continued past the house and round the corner.

"I see Creepy McCreeperson is back." Pixie said, looking over to Jax as he watched the car too, pulling on his kutte.

"Who?"

"The guy Tig and I spotted eyeing up you and Tara before we left for Nevada, that was his car."

"Oh shit, yeah I remember Clay told me. You get a good look at him the first time?"

"Yeah, white male in his late forties, short grey hair, pointed nose, smirky mouth."

"I'll keep an eye out then. Wonder what he wants?"

Pixie thought for a second whilst Jax put on his helmet. "He could be a Fed."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, that Unser guy told Tig ATF's moved in, and then we see binocular boy watching you like a hawk? Too much of a coincidence there for me to write it off completely."

Jax nodded, liking how Pixie was putting two and two together. "I'll talk to Unser, see if he knows who this guy is, that should either confirm or debunk that theory."

"Either way, the club's got trouble, again."

"When doesn't it have trouble?" Jax laughed as Pixie pulled on her helmet and started up her bike before they peeled out the driveway and made their way into town.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

Thank you so much for reading! I liked writing this chapter as I missed getting to write about Opie as he isn't in a lot of the earlier episodes and I wanted Pixie to form a better bond with him and his family. There's a lot of foreshadowing at the end of this chapter! - Lulu <3


	35. Giving Back Episode: Chapter 2

T: Missing my baby.

Pixie smiled down at the text from Tig as she took her helmet off, setting it on the handlebars and walked into the courtyard of Charming High school where the fundraiser would be held the next day, Jax had told Pixie where to go and to tell Gemma that he sent her up to help lend a hand, hoping Gemma would be less hostile that way. Pixie wasn't so sure, but she was willing to try for Jax anyways.

P: Bout 2 go help G setup fndrsr, wish me luck. Miss u 2.

Pixie replied then put her phone away and wandered in. The place was set up like a mini carnival and Pixie started getting Fun Town flashbacks and hoped there wouldn't be any clowns. Pretty quickly, she spotted Gemma with another blonde woman setting up the booth.

"Hi Gemma, Jax sent me to come lend a hand." Pixie said casually with a small wave. Gemma turned around and sighed.

"Where's Jax?"

"With Abel, what can I do to help?"

Gemma looked her up and down for a second before tutting. "Help Luann with the boxes of plates and cutlery."

Pixie nodded and the other woman smiled. "Hi, Luann, nice to meet you, I'm Pixie." She said sweetly.

"Hi Pixie, nice to meet you too, you're a Son?"

"Yep. Six years give or take. I was VP at my last charter in England." Pixie explained briefly as she came around the table to help sort through the boxes.

"Wow, my husband Otto's Samcro. He's in prison for the time being though."

"That's a shame." Pixie said sincerely. "You must miss him."

"All the time, work helps though." Luann smiled.

"Oh yeah? What do you do?"

"I'm the head of a successful porn company, Cara Cara." Luann stated casually as she counted polystyrene cups.

"Oh, that's cool." Pixie said, making sure to keep her voice even and neutral so she didn't offend the other woman as she processed her surprise.

Luann laughed. "You took that news better than almost everyone I've told. Including my husband."

Pixie smiled, warming up to Luann. "I don't judge people."

"That's a good philosophy."

"Luann, help me get this banner up." Gemma suddenly put in, holding a blue and white banner with "Sam Crow Chilli Booth" written in tattoo style lettering.

"Hun, do these stilettos look like they're made for climbing?" Luann laughed, gesturing to her purple heels.

"No, but they're really pretty." Pixie complimented. "I'll do it, you need me to get up on the table?"

"Well how else am I gonna get it up?" Gemma snapped.

Pixie put her hands up in a comical surrender motion. "You think that's an excuse of Clay's?" Pixie asked Luann under her breath, surprising the other woman, who let out a cackle of laughter.

"I like you, girl." Luann smiled as Pixie clambered onto the table.

"Thanks, pass me the zip ties and the banner then." Pixie instructed as she stood upright and made sure she could in fact reach the top bar. The other women passed her the items and Pixie put the sign up, securing it to the bars to make sure it didn't flap or fall off. Once she was done, she hopped down and turned to the others. "What next?" Pixie asked eagerly.

The time passed quickly, with Pixie making sure she stayed one step ahead of Gemma, doing jobs for her and sensing when Gemma needed things fetching. Pixie also chatted non-stop with Luann, talking about anything that was on their minds and joking about the Sons life. Gemma was begrudgingly starting to see what the others saw in Pixie, her kind, sassy and independent nature was growing on her and she'd seen how Pixie regarded the other Sons with such care and devotion. Luann, Gemma's best friend, also seemed to be getting on well with Pixie, Gemma was watching the pair as they counted napkins and joked about how messy some of the Sons were.

"We'll definitely need all of these, especially with our boys around." Luann giggled.

"Oh, tell everyone to leave room for the busses tomorrow." Gemma remembered.

"Who are we bussin'?" Luann queried.

"Oakdale Assisted Living. Seniors are all compulsive gamblers. Triples our raffle dollars."

"That's smart." Pixie nodded.

"God bless Social Security." Luann agreed.

Gemma sensed a presence and turned around to see a woman she hadn't seen in a long time, she had short, curly black hair, dark eyes and tanned skin. Gemma." The woman greeted her.

"Oh hey April, appreciate you coming to help."

"No problem, could I ask you something?" The woman asked pensively. Pixie, hearing the nervousness in her voice, tuned in, hoping the woman was okay.

"What?" Gemma asked suspiciously.

"Charlie's band is playing during the fireworks tomorrow night. He really wants his dad to come."

"Oh shit, April." Gemma responded sympathetically, but with disapproval. Pixie wondered why April was having to ask permission for the guy to turn up. "I-I don't think Clay is gonna go for it." _Ah,_ Pixie thought, _bad blood with the club?_

"Oh, I would never ask anything like this. Me and you, we understand what went down. But my kids..." April trailed off, pleading. " Charlie doesn't know, and it breaks his heart that his dad can't come to anything around here. No baseball games, no school stuff..."

Gemma's stance softened at the mention of April's kids and she relented. "All right, all right. I'll bring it up to Clay."

"Thank you!" April said, relief and gratitude prevalent in her tone.

"I can't promise anything." Gemma warned and April nodded in understanding.

"Thank you." April said again before walking off in the direction of the car park.

Gemma went over her mental checklist and realised that they'd sorted everything they had to in order for them to be ready for tomorrow.

"I think we're done here, ladies." She announced as Pixie and Luann pinned the tablecloth down to the table.

"That's great, well I'd better head back to the studio, I've got the rest of the afternoon booked up with scenes to shoot."

"Hope they go well, Luann, I'll see you tomorrow?" Pixie queried.

"Aw, thank you sweetheart, I'll definitely be here, it was lovely to meet you." Luann responded.

"You too." Pixie grinned, watching as Luann said goodbye to Gemma and tottered off towards her SUV. "Are you heading back to TM?" She asked as Gemma grabbed her purse.

"Yeah. I've got to sort out that shit for April."

"Hope you get that sorted, sounds like her kids really miss the guy."

"That's the price you pay when you betray the club." Gemma said gravely.

"He betrayed the club and he's still breathing? Damn."

Intrigued, Gemma looked down at Pixie. "Not how they did it in Highton?"

"The last guy to betray the Highton Sons literally became fishing chum." Pixie explained with a laugh. "Surprised Clay didn't do the same."

Gemma felt a smile on her face. "Charming's not a fishing town."

"I gathered that, you know, with the lack of sea." Pixie giggled. "I guess bodies round here become redwood fertiliser. That's certainly what happened to the asshole me and H buried a couple weeks ago."

Gemma laughed, surprising both of them. "Might need to do that too at some point, my rose bush is looking peaky."

Pixie laughed and shrugged. "I'll give you a hand, I'm known for my green-thumb and killer aim." She joked as they reached Gemma's car and Pixie's bike. Pixie sat down and put her helmet on, starting up her bike.

"See you there." Gemma nodded as she got in. "Oh, Pixie?"

"Yeah?" Pixie responded, looking up at the older, beautiful woman.

"Thanks for helping out today."

A huge grin spread across Pixie's face. "No worries, drive safe, okay?"

"Yeah." Gemma agreed, watching as the younger girl peeled out of the lot, did a wheelie and then raced off into the distance.

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie sauntered into the garage with her work shirt on, ready to clock in for her next shift. She spotted a pair of black military boots and dark jeans peeking out from under a plum coloured Honda on a mechanics stretcher and knew exactly who they belonged to, Pixie attempted to sneak up on the unsuspecting worker.

"I see those little purple boots, don't you dare try anything, darlin'." Tig's voice sounded from under the car making her giggle.

"How'd you know I was gonna try something?"

Tig pushed himself out from under the car so he could look up at her. "Because I know you, and it's been a while since you caused any mischief."

"Mischief that you know about." Pixie joked.

Tig pretended to eye her suspiciously before sliding back under the car. "Can you take a look at that red Nissan? It's got faulty blinker lights and Sack's been trying to figure it out."

"On it, boss." Pixie nodded, she bent down and quickly pulled on one of Tig's bootlaces, untying it and then scooting away before he had a chance to react.

"Hey, I felt that, rascal!" Tig called out with a bark of laughter. Pixie smiled to herself and headed over to Half-Sack and helped him out with the wiring. Between them, they managed to fix it, and moved on to a white Sedan with a missing wing mirror. Pixie looked up as Jax appeared in the lot on his bike and swaggered in.

"How's Abel?" She called out to him.

"Doing good, he was wriggling a little today."

"Aw, sounds like he's improving."

"Maybe he was dancin' or tryna walk like you?" Half-Sack joked, Pixie laughed as Half-Sack took a few steps, walking like Jax, swaggering with his shoulders going side to side with his legs.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jax narrowed his eyes, looking to Pixie.

Pixie chuckled. "You do walk like a chav." She said honestly, there was a bark of laughter from Tig.

"Chav?" Jax asked, raising an eyebrow.

"British teens who wear sportswear and look a little like Eminem. They go around in gangs fighting anything that looks at 'em the wrong way. They all do that swagger walk like their spines are made of jelly and act tougher than they actually are."

"I am not a chav." Jax said indignantly, though he was grinning, enjoying bantering with Pixie and Half-Sack.

"Are you sure, mate?" Pixie said gesturing to his white Nike trainers. "Only a chav would wear white trainers to a bloody fight."

"Hey! These are comfy."

Pixie giggled. "Never said they weren't."

Clay appeared in the doorway to the office. "Oi, chatty Cathys, get back to work, Jax, you're with me, we got a meeting with Otto."

"Hope Otto's doing okay, I met Luann and she's lovely." Pixie smiled.

"I'll tell him you send your best wishes." Jax laughed. "I swear you have two modes, insanely scary, and insanely positive."

"Don't forget 'insanely troublesome'." Half-Sack put in.

"That too. See ya later." Jax nodded, giving Pixie a playful push, she gently punched his arm and he laughed walking off with Clay to their bikes.

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie continued to joke around with Half-Sack and the other mechanics as they worked on the cars. She even managed to strike up a conversation with the shy mechanic, Lowell when she brought him a cup of coffee. Overall, Pixie was feeling good about her progress with the Sons and how she was settling in, she smiled to herself about it as she clocked off at the end of her shift and pulled off her work shirt as she walked across the lot, tucking it over her arm. Before she had time to react, someone grabbed her from behind, lifting her up by her middle. Pixie let out a yelp and was just about to kick when she heard Tig's signature chuckle and caught sight of his leather cuffs on his wrists that he always wore.

"Tiggy! I almost kicked you." Pixie squealed as he swung her around before setting her down and looping an arm around her shoulders.

"I was well aware of that risk, baby girl, but I wanted to hear you make that little squeak of surprise you do when you get spooked, it's adorable."

Pixie blushed. "I think you were the first Charming Son to cause me to do that."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, remember when you body-checked me coming through the door to the clubhouse and I almost punched you."

Tig smiled. "Yeah, I remember, I caught your little fist. I just remember thinking how endearingly feisty you were, like a little kitten."

"I was impressed by your reflexes, not many guys have been able to catch my punches on the hop like that."

Tig grinned to himself at the fact he'd done something that had impressed Pixie. "Anyway, how did today go? Missed seeing you first thing in the morning when I got here."

"You missed the coffee." Pixie quipped. She looked up at him, pretending to be serious. "I see straight through you, Mr Trager."

Tig chuckled and put his hands up. "Okay, you got me, doll." He pretended to admit. "Nah, course I missed you." He said affectionately kissing her temple as they got to the clubhouse doors.

"Aw, it was good, though. I hung out with Opie and Jax, we helped him empty his shed so he could sort through the things and get a crib for Abel, I played with Ellie too, she's lovely, turning out just like Opie."

"You're lovely." Tig teased. "I love how you say that word."

"I love the way you talk too. All growly and gruff."

Tig growled for her, then pulled her down on one of the couches so they could sit together, scooping her up and onto his lap so she was facing him, making Pixie giggle again. "You and Gemma came back together, how did that go?"

"Surprisingly well, I helped her set up the stall with Luann and she kinda warmed up to me a bit. I think we may have bonded over hiding bodies."

Tig raised an eyebrow. "Do I even wanna know?"

Pixie shook her head, rubbing her nose against his. "Not really."

"I'm so proud of you, baby. Hopefully Gemma'll cut you some slack."

"Fingers crossed. Oh, I saw that guy with the binoculars again, he did a drive by Opie's house when Jax and I were getting ready to leave. I think he's a Fed, Jax says he'll speak to Unser. _Who_ is Unser, by the way, no one's explained that to me." Pixie rambled. Tig laughed, loving how Pixie was so animated when she talked, hands waving to accentuate her points.

"Okay, okay, baby doll. Let me catch up here." Tig said grabbing her hands to catch her attention. "First, what makes you think he's a Fed?"

"Oh c'mon, fancy car, button up shirt, clean-shaven? That doesn't meet the profile of any rival club, and he just _happens_ to start stalking Jax the same day Unser tells you ATF's in Charming?" Pixie explained her thinking.

Tig nodded, the idea becoming increasingly plausible. "That's smart thinking, doll."

"Thanks, can you tell me who Unser is?"

"Yeah, he's the local sheriff, and an old friend of Clay's. We generally rely on him to sweep club business under the rug should anything happen inside of Charming that warrants police investigation."

"That's cool. I thought as much, but needed confirmation. Does that make Hale his deputy?"

"Yeah." Tig confirmed, watching as Pixie played with his rings again and the buckles on his leather cuffs. "You having fun there, darlin'?" He asked her, nuzzling Pixie to make her squirm and giggle.

Pixie nodded. "I fiddle with things when I'm thinking, or if I'm anxious."

Tig looked concerned. "And what are you now?"

"Thinking mainly, but I am a little anxious." Pixie admitted. "I feel like the club's heading into trouble and it's making me feel jumpy, I know it's a lot to wish for a peaceful Sons life, but I can't help wishing for just a little break, y'know? Just to heal up a bit. Too long and I'd miss the chaos." Pixie explained wistfully, smiling at Tig and gently smoothing some of his mad curls.

"I get that darlin' no one's earnt a break more than you. Where'd you go if you could have a break?" He asked softly, his heart swelling with the knowledge that Pixie felt comfortable enough with him to open up about this.

"I miss the sea. So somewhere with a beach, just so I can look out at the waves again, and surf a little, I used to be really good until my leg was amputated, it's a lot harder to stand up on the board with the prosthetic 'coz you can't feel the board shift and move your foot accordingly so you just end up flopping straight off and eating sea water, I haven't mastered it yet."

Tig chuckled. "Well, when all this shit dies down, I'll borrow the van and you and I can have a little beach vacation. Ocean Beach is like two hours away from here. We can go surfing and do whatever we wanna do."

"You'd do that for me?" Pixie asked, her face taking on that hopeful puppy expression that made Tig feel weak-kneed.

"Of course, baby." Tig wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer so he could kiss her.

"You just want to see me in a bikini." Pixie joked, eyes narrowing.

Tig laughed at her skeptical expression. "You caught me, darlin'."

"I'd get to see you shirtless, so I guess that's a fair trade." Pixie giggled, playfully undoing one of Tig's shirt buttons.

"Is that so?" Tig crooned, catching her fingers and weaving them with his. Motorcycle engines suddenly roared down through the lot and the engines died as the riders parked up, Tig sighed.

"Guess Jax and Play-doh are back." Pixie said, sounding a little disappointed.

Tig chuckled at Pixie's nickname for their pres. "Hey, play nice with Clay. I guess I'd better go see what's up with Big Otto."  
"You don't sound very enthused." Pixie teased, booping Tig's nose.

"Well, who would be? Tell me, what guy would rather go speak with a bunch of grumpy dudes instead of staying and entertaining a gorgeous girl in their lap?"

"A guy with a 'Sergeant at Arms' patch?" Pixie quipped cheekily, patting his kutte.

Tig shook his head smiling. "You got me there, angel." He patted her leg, signalling for Pixie to get down, she responded by shaking her head and wrapping her arms around his neck. Tig laughed and gently tugged her. "You gotta get up, doll."

"Nah, I'm comfy." Pixie giggled back, teasing him.

"Babe, c'mon." Tig chuckled trying to gently remove Pixie, who clung on tighter to him like a limpet, making him laugh harder. "Is this my life now?" Tig couldn't help but let a hint of hopefulness colour his question. With Pixie, he sensed he was the most relaxed he'd felt in decades and he wasn't going to let that feeling go easily.

"Yep!" Pixie nodded enthusiastically. She understood the weight of Tig's question, but didn't even need to give it a second thought. Spending time with Tig was magical. There was so much fire, connection and comfort and she felt drawn to him like their hearts were connected by elastic thread.

Tig wrapped his arms around Pixie, then used his leg muscles to stand up, taking Pixie up with him. "Am I seriously going to have to go out and have an important conversation with Clay whilst having you stuck to me like a koala?" He asked her. Tig was really enjoying this side of Pixie and the physical contact made him feel loved and valued.

"I might let go, _if_ you promise you'll come for a sleepover soon. It was amazing staying with you in Nevada, and my bed feels so big."

"That might be to do with the fact that you're tiny, angel." Tig teased, earning an eye roll and a playful blep of the tongue from Pixie. "But I agree, I miss it, seeing you all sleepy and not making my life difficult with your naughtiness."

"I don't make it _that_ difficult." Pixie objected with a giggle.

"Oh, really? So you _didn't_ give me heart failure twice in the span of two days by doing that prank with Sack and then running away from me in the middle of a goddamn Mayan shootout?"

Pixie slid down from Tig, giving him her signature cheeky grin. "Guess you'll just have to keep me out of trouble."

"Baby girl, you _are_ trouble." Tig crooned, following Pixie as she headed out the clubhouse door and up towards where Jax and Clay were loitering by their bikes, smoking.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	36. Giving Back Episode: Chapter 3

**Semi-smut with Pixie and Tig towards the end of the chapter.**

Pixie decided to make herself useful and go see if the mechanics needed more coffees, she wanted to try and get a little closer to Lowell especially as he seemed like a troubled soul and Pixie couldn't leave him to potentially suffer alone. He was younger than some of the other mechanics and was a shorter, skinny guy with straight brown hair that hung about in wild tufts that framed worried blue eyes and a pale face. Pixie spotted him towards the back of the garage and sauntered up.

"Hey L, you need a refill?" She greeted, Lowell's head snapped up immediately, anxiety clear on his face until he realised it was only Pixie.

"Oh, hey, Pixie. Uh, yeah, coffee please...if that's okay? You don't have to get it right now or-"

"Lowell, mate, it's alright, I've got nothing else going on, so I can sort the coffees." Pixie soothed, trying to calm the man.

Lowell scratched at his arm uneasily. "O-okay. Two sugars, no milk. Please."

"Sure thing, bud." Pixie nodded, heading into the office. She started up the coffee pot and prepared Lowell's mug. Gemma materialised in the doorway and Pixie gave her a smile. "Coffee?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna need it."  
"You about to tell Clay about April?"

"Uh huh, been waiting for a good time to bring it up with him today and he seems to be in a relaxed mood now."

"You'll have to strike fast then, those moods are rare." Pixie joked as she poured Gemma her usual coffee order. The older woman took the cup, taking a sip and grimaced.

"No wonder you Brits drink so much tea, because you certainly can't make a good coffee."

Pixie let out a deep sigh as she felt some of the progress being made with Gemma start to come undone. "I did it the exact way Jax showed me you like it."

"Well next time, I'll just wait for Jax."

" _Cool beans_." Pixie muttered sarcastically as she sorted Lowell's coffee. Gemma sashayed out to the front of the garage and Pixie heard Clay's voice as he made his way over to his wife. Pixie guessed he must have finished talking to Tig about Otto.

"Hey baby, all set up for your picnic?"

"It's a _fundraiser_." Gemma corrected him. Pixie passed Lowell his coffee and made herself a cup, leaning against the office doorway to see how the exchange between Gemma and Clay would go.

"Who are we raising funds for this year?" Clay asked as he strode into the garage, a soft but teasing smile on his face as he regarded his wife.

"Music department. Middle school." Gemma clarified, turning to look at him, and following him over to a motorbike that was being repaired.

"You are a saint." Clay teased. Pixie got the sense that Clay didn't take what Gemma did seriously, he spoke about the fundraiser as if he was entertaining a child and Pixie wondered if that was why Gemma was so defensive.

"Don't be an asshole." Gemma huffed as she reached him.

Clay looked up at her from the bike. "I'm serious."

"Yeah. I can tell." Gemma rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips.

"Hey, Lowell? You replaced this main shaft?" Clay said, turning his attention back to the motorbike, dismissive of Gemma.

"Yep." Lowell confirmed from the back, sinking lower behind the car he was working on.

Gemma tried again with her husband. "I was talking to April Hobart." Pixie watched Clay's posture stiffen as he turned to slowly look back at Gemma as she continued. "What do you think about letting Kyle come tomorrow?"

"I don't think about it." Clay ground out. "Opie went to prison 'cause of that asshole. He's excommunicated." The puzzle pieces clicked into place for Pixie and she once again questioned why the club had allowed him to walk after what he did to Opie.

"It's not for Kyle. April stayed in Charming after you stripped his patch. Divorced him." Gemma reminded him.

Clay stood up to his full height, not liking how Gemma was pushing him on this topic. "She divorced him because he was nailing everything with two sets of lips." Clay stated vulgarly. Pixie couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, especially after seeing Clay go off with Cherry back in Nevada. "The answer is _no._ " Clay concluded, pointing a finger at Gemma in an authoritative stance.

"His kid's band is playing tomorrow night. His father's never seen him play. It's for April's kids." Gemma tried again, coming at it from a different angle to see if that would make him reconsider.

" _Jesus_." Clay exclaimed in exasperation, turning away from Gemma and the bike to pace a couple of steps to the metal storage cabinet to find a couple of nuts for the bike.

Gemma made one last attempt. "Well, I guess I was just feeling charitable. Thought maybe you'd like the opportunity to do the same thing." She said in a frustrated manner as she sashayed away from him, heading to the secretary's office. She was pushing Clay's buttons, knowing that he hated having his character being called into question.

"Hey! I'm very charitable." Clay said indignantly, calling out to her from across the garage, causing the few mechanics around to focus intently on their work, not wanting to get dragged into the domestic argument.

Gemma turned around to face him. "I know, darling." She said innocently. Clay turned around, grinding his teeth and opening and closing his hands. He suddenly threw a nut back into the metal drawer and turned to look at her again. "You know what? I'll put it up for a vote. But it's not gonna pass." Even though he was doing exactly what Gemma wanted him to, his tone of voice was spiteful, as though he was on the winning side of the argument. Pixie had to give Gemma props for being able to play Clay like a goddamn fiddle.

"I love you!" Gemma said sweetly, with a satisfied smug smile on her face.

"That love's gonna kill me." Clay grumbled, turning back to his work. Pixie made him a coffee and brought it to him before heading back across to the clubhouse where she found Bobby looking over some paperwork and Piney at the bar.

"Hey, Bobs, Piney, you need anything?"

"Beer's fine, Tig's around here somewhere." Bobby nodded, looking over the top of his glasses at Pixie.

"Whiskey for me." Piney ordered. Pixie got the beer for Bobby first, then poured a whiskey out for Piney and added a little paper umbrella to his glass just to make him laugh.

"How are you feeling today, Pines?"

"Old. And creaky."

"Well you look just as handsome as always, Piney." Pixie comforted, giving him a wink. Piney's face became a little flushed and he smiled down into drink. She moved to go sit with Bobby on the sofas and looked at the page of accounts he was reviewing. "What're you up to?"

"Sorting this month's paychecks and accounts, not particularly fun."

Pixie picked up his notepad where he's been writing down his calculations and maths figures, she studied it for a second, looking at the figures for Jax's pay. "Bobby, you got this one wrong, it should be one thousand, nine hundred and twenty dollars, not one thousand, nine hundred and five, you're cheating Jax out of fifteen dollars this month."

"What?" Bobby asked her for clarification.

"TM's giving fifteen dollars an hour, right?"

"Yeah?"  
"So, Jax worked thirty-two hours per week this month due to Sons stuff I guess, so that's thirty two multiplied by four weeks, which is a hundred and twenty-eight. So then you multiply fifteen by a hundred and twenty eight, so you get one thousand nine hundred and twenty." Pixie explained her calculations.

Bobby took a slow sip of his beer and put it down on the coffee table. "Did... did you just do that entire calculation in your head in less than sixteen seconds?"

Pixie giggled. "I'm good at maths. Need a hand with the books?"  
Bobby grinned and nodded eagerly. "God, yes."

The pair set to work whilst Piney watched on, studying Pixie as she sat cross legged on the couch. If someone had told him a couple months ago that a spunky twenty-two year old girl was going to be the newest prospect, he would have laughed so hard he'd need his oxygen tank just to catch his breath. However, seeing how Pixie fit in with the Sons, Piney was now firmly convinced that Pixie was exactly what this club needed to stay afloat. She gave Clay a run for his money, she was intelligent, quick-witted and did what she could to keep the others safe. She was a good leader, and was never afraid to give someone a piece of her mind, him included. Piney thought about how Pixie had ripped into him about Opie, how she'd fiercely defended him, and gave Piney the hard truths he didn't even know he needed until that point. Pixie made Piney want to do better by his only son, and since then he'd tried to reach out more. When Clay finally decided to put Pixie's patches up to a vote, Piney knew for certain what side his vote would be on.

☠️☠️☠️

Bobby and Pixie finished working on the accounts and Pixie stood up to get a cup of tea, her phone buzzed and she saw Jax's name as the caller ID, she picked up immediately and went to her room.

"Hey, Jax, you okay?"  
"Quick question, did the binocular guy have short grey hair on top and silver on the sides? Large hook nose?"  
"Yeah, why?" Pixie asked, her stomach dropping a little.

"He just came up to me in the hospital, I was with Abel and he just stared at him weirdly, said some shit and left, you're right, he's creepy as hell."

"Fuck, that's bizarre." Pixie sat down on the bed. "Maybe I'm wrong about him being a Fed."

"What makes you say that?"  
"Most of the time, they usually observe from afar, they don't usually come that close as they don't want to blow their cover, this guy... it's like he's taunting you like a predator, like he's _wanting_ you to see him. Stalking you until he's ready to pounce. Are you sure you don't recognise him? You haven't pissed anyone off recently?"

"No, I have no clue. I've been staying low recently."  
"Did he have any tatts that you could see?"  
"He didn't really strike me as being a tattoo guy, too clean shaven and stiff collared."  
"Does he fit the M.O. of any rival clubs in the area?"  
"Nords maybe, but this isn't how they play. If they wanted to have a go at me, they'd turn up guns blazing, they aren't known for their subtlety."

"Okay, well what else has changed in the last week or so? Have you spoken to anyone new? Gone somewhere different?"

"No, nothing." Jax said a little exasperatedly. She could practically see him pacing up and down.

"Well something has to have changed in order for you to get his attention."

"I've done nothing. I've been doing club business, working at the garage, and seeing Abel. That's it."

Pixie thought back to the first time she spotted Jax's stalker. "What about that bird you were with?"

"When? You're gonna have to narrow that down a bit." Jax chuckled.

Pixie rollled her eyes. "At TM, just before you left for Indian Hills with Bobby. She had an interesting vintage car?"

"Oh! You mean Tara?"

"Yeah, I remember that's what Tig said. Where does she fit in all of this?"

"She's an old flame, high school sweetheart type of thing, she left Charming years ago, but came back recently to work at St Thomas and sort out her dad's place when he passed away."

"Does she still have feelings for you?"

"I dunno. She's one of the doctors helping Abel though."

"Doctor? Is she at the hospital today?"

"I dunno, I'll check, why?"

"If we can't work out what drew this guy to you, we have to look at other options. The guy was staring at both you and Tara when we first saw him, so maybe that's his target, you and Tara." Pixie explained her thinking. "He could be an old flame turned psycho, thinking you're with Tara." Pixie joked.

Jax laughed. "You've been watching too many crime shows. But your theory's all we've got. I'm coming back now anyway, but tomorrow, I'll go visit Abel and see if I can spot him lurking around Tara."

"Maybe don't tell her about him, it would be mean to panic her and then have it turn out that my thinking was wrong."

"Yeah, I agree. A'ight, I'm at my bike now, so we'll continue this when I get back, yeah?"

"Yeah, drive safe, bro."

"See ya, Pipsqueak." Jax laughed and the line went dead.

Pixie ran a hand through her hair and rubbed her face, putting the phone back in her kutte. She took a couple of breaths, thinking about the creep stalking Jax, something had to be done about him, and she wished she knew what his intentions were. A loud thump sound came from her door, making Pixie jump, so she got up and opened it to see Tig leaning against the door frame with a goofy grin on his face.

"Why does it sound like you punch my door every time you knock on it?" Pixie giggled, relieved to see him.

"That's how you know it's me." Tig explained, leaning down to kiss Pixie, then guided her into the room. "You seem a little tense, who do I need to go beat up?" Tig's eyes narrowed as he sat down, pulling Pixie into his lap.

Pixie giggled, stroking the side of his face. "Down, Tigger, it's just the creepy stalker guy. He approached Jax at the hospital."

"What?" Tig growled. Pixie explained the conversation she'd just had with Jax and Tig listened intently, brow furrowing as he rubbed his chin, thinking hard. "I'm still leaning towards your original thought of him being a Fed, but I see where you're coming from. I think we need someone with Jax at all times when he's out though, as this guy could be a threat."

"We could get H on it?"

"I'll bring it up in church, okay? We're having a meeting as soon as Jax gets back. In the meantime, try not to worry, angel."

"I'll try." Pixie nodded, automatically biting her lip.

"Ah! I see that, missy." Tig chided, gently pulling her lip out from under her top teeth with his thumb before bringing her closer to him and kissing Pixie hard. Pixie melted under his touch as she felt heat begin to course through her body. Tig's kisses were overwhelming in the best way possible, rough and dominant, but full of care and passion. Pixie could smell his spicy aftershave, the motor oil from the garage and his brand of cigarettes. The scents had her snuggling up against him, wanting more. She danced her tongue with his and gently bit his lip, causing him to growl, the sound making the butterflies flit in Pixie's stomach. Tig could feel Pixie's hands snaking under his kutte, feeling his muscles through his shirt and going up to tangle in his hair. Tig was quickly becoming intoxicated by Pixie, she smelt like the garage too, but her trademark strawberry scent was still prominent, so sweet and sexy. His hands found their way under Pixie's shirt, one hand going to her hip to rub circles there whist the other went up to caress her back and feel her soft, silky skin. Pixie suddenly squirmed, breaking the kiss and giggled as Tig's hand grazed a particularly ticklish spot.

"Tiggy!" Pixie gasped as he touched it more, a devilish grin on his face.

"Yeah, princess?"

"Stop! It tickles!" Pixie squealed, laughing as he started searching for more ticklish areas.

"Oh, does it?" Tig asked, pretending to be completely innocent and unaware of the effect his fingers were having on Pixie.

"Two can play at that game!" Pixie declared, sensing Tig's playful mood. She quickly found the sensitive patch on Tig's ribs that made him writhe and laugh as he tried to simultaneously stop Pixie's hands and keep ticking her, the end result was Tig flopping backwards as they proceeded to wrestle with each other. Tig eventually managed to pin Pixie under him, holding her wrists above her head with one hand and propping himself up with his other arm so he didn't completely squish Pixie. His legs were tangled with hers and being this close to each other felt like the most comfortable thing in the world.

"You ready to give up, angel?" Tig teased, kissing the side of Pixie's neck.  
"Nope." Pixie giggled, gasping at the sensation of Tig's lips against her tender skin. She wriggled under him, trying to see if she could wiggle free and their hips ground together. Tig let out a groan and Pixie blushed furiously.

"Did that feel good, doll?" Tig soothed, kissing her forehead and smiling at how adorable she was when her cheeks turned a rosy pink.

Pixie nodded shyly, the sensation was brand new to her, but addictive all the same, she experimentally did the same motion, but this time Tig joined in and hissed in pleasure as Pixie let out a small moan. "Think we need to stop as I don't particularly want my first time to be in a Clubhouse with a bunch of Sons at the bar." Pixie giggled breathily.

Tig nodded, rolling off of her and onto his back, putting one arm behind his head. "First time?"

"Yeah." Pixie blushed again but refused to let herself be embarrassed. "I didn't meet the right person back in Highton, and I wasn't focused on dating or that kind of thing. It was the least of my concerns whilst I was trying to protect my brothers and find a way to escape the IRA."

Tig nodded. "I did wonder, and I respect that, one hundred percent. It just means that when the time is right, I'll make it extra special for you." He nodded, stroking her cheek. "That is, if I am the right person?"

Pixie rolled her eyes. "I would have kicked your ass all the way to Canada if you weren't."

Tig chuckled. "Noted. I think you're right for me too. I haven't felt this way about anyone before, sure I've had flings, and one failed marriage, but each time, my heart just wasn't in it. There was physical attraction, but nothing deeper."

"You were married?" Pixie looked over at him.

It was Tig's turn to blush a little. "Decades ago, it was pretty much over before it even began. I should probably tell you I have two daughters somewhere out there, Dawn and Fawn. I haven't seen them since they were babies, ex-wife took them and left."

Pixie nodded in understanding. "I'm not judging you for what you did in the past, and thank you for being honest with me, Alex." Pixie grabbed his hand to comfort him.

"This is why you're my right person. I just unloaded baggage that would have sent so many girls running for the hills, but you're just snuggling closer." Tig said, a little amazed.

"I'm not going anywhere, stuff like that is just part of you, same as my baggage. Do you miss your kids?"

"Sometimes, I missed them when I saw Abel at the hospital, and I regret the fact I never got to know them. They only contact me when they need money. I was never cut out to be a father though, it just made me feel wildly uncomfortable, but I tried to do right by my ex-wife, she wanted kids desperately."

"I get that, though you need to remember that you can't please someone at the cost of your own happiness, it's not healthy."

"Yeah, it took me a while to learn that. You're older than them, if it helps, they were born a couple of years after you."

"That's fine. Age doesn't bother me, and if I ever meet them, I'll treat them with nothing but kindness and respect."

"I adore you." Tig said sincerely, his eyes full of wonder at this angel who lay next to him.

Pixie smiled. "I adore you too." She rolled over and kissed him, before getting up. "We better head out and see if Jax is back yet, you've got meetings to attend."

Tig growled in annoyance as he rubbed his face. "Yeah, you're right."

"Always am." Pixie quipped back cheekily.

Tig got up and boxed her in against the wall. "Is that so?"

"Definitely." Pixie winked.

Tig chuckled and kissed her temple before straightening his clothes and opening the door for Pixie who scooted out and casually walked to the main room.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	37. Giving Back Episode: Chapter 4

Most of the Sons had gathered in the main room to wait for Jax's return so they could call the meeting. Pixie set to work grabbing beers for everyone and passing them around, whilst Tig went and stood next to Clay and caught him up on the conversation he'd had with Pixie. Pixie passed a beer to Opie, who grinned and took it from her.

"Nice to see you up here." Pixie said encouragingly.

"Thanks, nice to be back." Opie nodded.

Pixie gave a beer to Half-Sack who smiled down at her as she joined him at one of the tables.

"How're you doing, H?"

"Good, I keep thinking about Cherry, man. I miss her."

"She sounds like she's really special to you, maybe invite her down to see you sometime?"

"You think I should?"

"Yeah, she seemed really into you and it'll give you a chance to see her outside of her club, get to know her personality and everything."

Half-Sack nodded. "Okay, she gave me her number, so maybe I should call her and ask when things are quiet."

"Go for it." Pixie encouraged him.

"How about you? How's the nightmares?"  
Pixie bit her lip and took a breath. "Still bad, sometimes I'm afraid to fall asleep."

Half-Sack nodded in understanding. "I get that, I was like that when I first got them, but you can't not sleep, on nights when they get particularly bad, maybe get up and make yourself a snack or a drink, then try again, it helps to calm yourself down." Half-Sack reached across the table and took Pixie's hand, giving it a comforting squeeze.

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that actually makes a lot of sense, I'll try that. Thanks, H. You're a good brother."

The sound of Jax's motorcycle cut through the chatter as he drove into the lot and parked up. A couple seconds later, the door opened and Jax strode in, taking off his helmet. Pixie got up and grabbed him a beer, passing it to him as he headed over to Clay who was standing, leaning against a pool table with Tig and Bobby..

"Thanks, Pix." He nodded. "Clay, I think Pixie needs to be in this meeting."  
Clay raised an eyebrow and Pixie ducked her head and moved away, making it clear that this wasn't her suggestion. "Why?"

"She has some good theories about who the stalker is, and I think everyone needs to hear 'em. That, and she's done a lot for the club already, she deserves to know what's going on."

Clay's jaw worked as fixed Jax with a hard stare. "Alright." He turned to the rest of the group. "Hands for Pixie to join us?" He called out. Jax, Tig, Bobby, Half-Sack, Opie and Piney all raised their hand. Pixie suddenly felt overwhelmingly accepted and couldn't help but let a big grin appear on her face. Clay nodded and even though it looked as though he disapproved, he fixed Pixie with a gare and stuck his finger out at her. "You're in, any trouble and I'll kick you out myself, got it?"

"Aye, aye, captain." Pixie nodded eagerly with a small salute.

"I'm already regretting this decision." Clay grumbled, but the corners of his mouth were turned up in a suppressed smile. He walked down the hallway to the church doors and the rest of the group followed suit. Tig linked his hand with Pixie's and gave her an encouraging grin. When they got in, Pixie was taken aback by the beautifully carved table with the reaper in the centre of it. Clay took his place at the head, with Jax on his left and Tig on his right. Bobby and Half-Sack sat down on Jax's side and Piney took the other end of the table to look directly at Clay. Opie nudged Pixie and motioned for her to sit in between himself and Tig so she was in the middle and she smiled appreciatively.

Once everyone was settled, Clay began with the first order of business. "As most of you know, Jax and I went to pay Big Otto a visit earlier today. He wants us to take care of a good friend of his, Chuck. Chuck's been cooking the books for the Asian Mob. Skimmed four hundred 'K' off of Henry Lin's crew." He explained, the others shook their heads, grinning in disbelief at how much Chuck was able to get away with. "Otto's keeping him safe up at Stockton, but he's getting out tomorrow morning.So we protect him, we get the cash, and we get him out of Cali." Clay continued, explaining his plan. Tig nodded, thinking the plan over, it seemed straightforward enough, which surprised him as most Sons plans were never usually this easy.

"We're gonna split the cash with Chucky-boy. Twenty-five percent goes to us." Jax put in. "Otto wants his twenty-five to go to Luann."

"It ain't gonna be a cakewalk." Bobby put in, taking a drag from his cigarette. The others looked to him. "Lin's a dangerous cat. Sneaky little bastard."

"That's why we're gonna take three-man shifts." Clay explained, putting Bobby's mind at ease and showing that he's thought this through. "We're gonna keep this place locked down. Chuck never leaves this clubhouse, and the garage is open for pick-ups only."

"Alright." Tig agreed, nodding his approval.

"Skim's hidden in one of the restaurants Lin uses as a front. We're gonna keep Chuck here until Sunday, go pick up the money when the place is closed."

"Good, good." Tig nodded, patting the table.

"Alright, glad that's settled." Clay nodded. "Okay, next order of business, Jax, Pixie, you have an issue?"

Jax looked at Pixie, who motioned for him to go first, not wanting to overstep boundaries, so he spoke up. "Right before Bobby and I left for Indian Hills, Pixie and Tig spotted some guy in a black Benz car who was watching me and Tara with a pair of binoculars through the TM metal fence. We thought it was possibly an ATF agent or a Fed, apparently he tailed me when I left after Bobby. Tig reported it to Clay, but we had more important things to do at that point and I didn't see him whilst we were up in Nevada, but when Pixie and I went to go hang out with Opie this morning, Pixie spotted him doing a drive-by when we were leaving." Jax explained gravely with the others listening intently. At the mention of his house, Opie looked up at Jax and Pixie, concerned. "I got a quick look at him, but Pixie, having seen him twice, was able to get a basic description." Jax motioned for Pixie to speak up.

"He's a slender looking Caucasian man, late forties, short smooth grey hair, but silvery on the sides, hooked nose, thin lips, creepy aura. He wears button up shirts and seems well put together, clean-shaven and all business. That, combined with the black and chrome Mercedes Benz, got me thinking he has to be related to ATF or possibly an Federal Agent." Pixie explained, Bobby nodded, signalling he approved of Pixie's theory.

"We thought he was just snooping to see if he could dig up any dirt and monitor my movements, until he approached me at the hospital today." Jax continued.

Bobby turned to look at him in surprise. "What?"

"I was with Abel, and he came to the observation window for the NICU room and was just standing and staring at me and Abel, so I got up and greeted him, and he just said Abel was a beautiful boy and then turned and left after giving me a creepy look."

"That's fucked up." Opie put in. "What are you thinking now?"

"Well, I'm at a loss, but Pixie being Pixie, has theories of her own." Jax smiled encouragingly at her, there were a couple of chuckles from the Sons.

"Honestly? I've been mulling this over and I'm torn. On the one hand, this geezer's shown he's at least had some kind of training, he's not a novice at hunting people down and watching them, it was a total fluke that I spotted him the first time, and the fact that I've been around Jax a lot and have only spotted him for the second time today, shows he's good at sneaking around. However, on the other hand, he seems... unhinged, or desperate to some capacity. A trained, level-headed Fed wouldn't just waltz up to their target and stare creepily at their kid, at least not without being heavily disguised, which he wasn't. Something's not right with him somehow. Jax and I discussed it and I think there's a strong possibility he's after Tara too. One of the reasons we've only seen him a handful of times could be that Jax isn't his sole target, he could be splitting his time between the two of them. Which leads me to my next theory, I think this bastard could be connected to Tara and is seeing Jax as a threat."

"A psycho ex? Really?" Clay laughed.

"Hear me out for a second, mate." Pixie insisted. "The first time I saw him, Jax was with Tara and this guy was looking at them so intently, his jaw was set like he was pissed. Then Jax goes to Tara's place of work, the hospital. This could have triggered the guy and made him want to hunt Jax down, try and find out what he's doing so close to Tara. He may not have known Jax even had a kid until today. He could have gone to hunt him down like a predator, make his presence known to ward Jax off of Tara, but then when he saw you had a legit reason for being there, he chickened out, realising that getting between a Son and their family wouldn't end well for him." Pixie explained. The others thought about it for a second and Tig watched Pixie thinking hard as she pulled at the end of her sleeve. She suddenly looked up. "Jax, is there any kind of record of you and Tara being together out there? Like on the records?"

Jax looked confused for a second. "What do you mean?"

"If this guy is a Fed, is there anything on Tara's records that you know of, that could tie her to you?"

Jax thought hard for a second and suddenly swore. " _Fuck_ , I got arrested with Tara a couple of times when we were still dating. We would have been around eighteen or so. They weren't big charges, disorderly conduct and stuff like that."

"But they'd be on her records. If this guy is a Fed, and he's after Tara, he would've seen your name and put two and two together, realised it was most likely that you and Tara had dated during that period, and then when she returned to Charming, it may have been enough to force him out the woodwork because he's pissed at the potential of losing her to you." Pixie thought aloud.

"You sound like you have experience with this." Jax raised an eyebrow.

"One of the hangabouts in Highton, a girl named Riley, had an abusive ex. She ran away from him and back to Highton to be with one of the Sons who'd previously dated her. The bastard tried to shoot the Son in question and we got him instead. This situation just feels eerily similar to that." Pixie recalled. "Maybe you could talk to Unser and see if he knows who this guy is? That would confirm for certain whether he is or isn't a Fed, which in turn will let us know how best to deal with this bloke."  
Jax nodded and looked to Clay. "She's right, Unser's probably our next step forwards with this shit, the last thing we need is to be trying to smuggle Chuck out of Cali and have this psycho on our trail."

"Alright, I'll speak to him. In the meantime, everyone keep your eyes out for the guy and Jax, make sure someone's with you if you're out, you're less vulnerable that way."

Jax nodded. "I'm going back to see Abel tomorrow after we get Chuck, so I could see if I can spot him at the hospital."

"Sounds like a plan." Clay nodded. "Alright, that's settled." He concluded. The Sons started moving their chairs back to leave. "Uh, wait a minute, wait a minute." Clay called, bringing their attention back. Clay rubbed his face like he really didn't want to bring up the next topic and Pixie had a good idea about what he was about to say. "There's one more thing." He sighed, cleared his throat and looked upwards, not wanting to meet the eyes of the other Sons. "April Hobart wants to know if her old man can come to the fundraiser, see his kid's band play." He announced. Jax scowled horribly and looked to Opie who was doing a good job of keeping his emotions in check and his face blank. Pixie felt Tig stiffen next to her and she rubbed his thigh comfortingly, trying to keep him calm. She could practically feel the whole room tense up.

"You gotta be kidding." Jax growled, shaking his head.

"That's done, brother." Tig scowled.

"I know." Clay tried to reason.

"That's _done_." Tig repeated, getting his point across that he was not liking this one bit. Pixie caught his hand and gently tugged it away from his face, stopping him from rubbing his chin which he did when he was tense or in deep thought.

"No, I know, I know. But she took a big hit staying behind." Clay tried, looking directly at Tig to try and reason with him before turning back to the others. "She supported the club. It's for her, not for Kyle." Pixie looked over at Opie whose jaw was now clenching and unclenching and his eyes looked hurt, she offered him a half-smile and rubbed his upper arm in a sign of solidarity and comfort. "I figured I'd throw it up for a vote." Clay concluded, not wanting to push the Sons any more.

The group was silent for a moment, until Opie suddenly looked up and at Clay. "Let him come." Jax did a double take and Piney's eyes bugged in disbelief. The others looked at him, trying to work out what was going through his head.

"Are you serious?" Jax asked, trying to gauge where his best friend was coming from.

Clay pointed at Opie. "This _can't_ be about getting even. Not at the school." He warned.

Opie shook his head calmly. "It's not about that." He took a breath and shrugged his shoulders. "This guy's got nothing, right? No club, no family. Do me good to see that. Appreciate what I've got."

Pixie smiled, she liked how mature Opie was being about the situation and how much you could really tell that he loved his family and wasn't a violent person by nature. Jax smiled at him too and nodded, on the same wavelength as Pixie. Tig, however, was not, he looked at Opie in complete disbelief. There was silence as Clay thought over what Opie had to say and rubbed his face.

"Any objections?" He asked the group.

"Yeah, me." Tig said indignantly. Pixie tightened her grip on his hand to get him to look at her and take a calming breath, she could feel his protective side clawing at the surface.

Piney threw down his cigarette into the ashtray in disgust. "I don't agree with it." He growled, looking at his only son who looked back at him in a 'give it a rest' look.

When no one else objected, Tig got more frustrated. "Oh, this is wrong, man." He looked down at Pixie who was very much siding with Opie and over at Bobby, who raised his hands, but refused to do anything further, wanting to do what was best for Opie. The room was deathly silent as the tension reached its peak.

"Majority rule. Vote passes. Let him come." Clay said firmly. Everyone stood up, not wanting to be in the room much longer, Tig leant across and patted Opie on the back to show unity with him, knowing that he was going to have to go along with it and find another way to protect his brother.

"Hey, you all better be at the fundraiser tomorrow, unless you want a size nine high heel boot up your ass." Clay warned as Half-Sack and Pixie started clearing away the ashtrays and the empty beer bottles.

"You coming?" Bobby asked him, looking over the top of his glasses at Clay.

"I'd rather have my balls cut off." Clay chuckled. Tig burst out laughing, the tension in the room finally dissipating as the others joined him and Bobby shook his head in disapproval with Half-Sack. "What? Too soon for that joke?" He chuckled as they left the room. Clay grabbed Jax's arm and pulled him aside. "Hey, watch for Kyle tomorrow. I don't want anything going down at Gemma's gig. Keep him away from Ope."

"A'ight." Jax nodded, letting Pixie pass with her armful of beer bottles as she followed Half-Sack into the utility room where he emptied out the ashtrays. She dumped the bottles and patted him on the shoulder before heading back out and bumping straight into Tig. He'd been on his way to find her, she smacked into his muscular chest and staggered back, Tig just managing to catch her in time and pulled her close to help her regain her balance.

"We gotta stop meeting like this, doll." He chuckled. "You okay?"

"Yeah, glad I didn't try to hit you this time." Pixie grinned up at him.

"What do you have planned for the rest of the day?"  
"Nothing, why?" Pixie asked him as he led her back in the direction of her room.

"I was wondering whether you wanted to come on a ride with me? It's been a while since I just rode for the hell of it, and I miss it. I've found a good route we could take too, plenty of long flat roads, perfect for stunts." Tig said enticingly.

Pixie's eyes lit up with excitement. "Really? I'd love that."

"Yeah, why do you always get so surprised when I do nice things for you?" Tig chuckled as he opened the door for Pixie so she could grab her backpack.

"I'm not used to it, I always put other people before myself, so when people do nice things for me, it weirds me out."

"Well, things are gonna get weirder, 'cause after we have our ride, I'll take you out for food and a movie. There's a retro night at the local cinema, they're playing 'Smokey and the Bandit', I love that film."

"Me too, you'd look good in a cowboy hat, just saying." Pixie giggled as she put a hoodie into her backpack in case she got cold later and sauntered past him. Tig did a double take.

"You've seen that film?"

"For the money, for the glory, and for the fun...Mostly for the money." Pixie quoted Bandit, giving Tig a little wink. "I like to think that quote relates to the Sons a little."  
Tig stood there completely dumbfounded with a goofy grin on his face. "You are incredible."

"So are you, Trager." Pixie grinned. "When do you want to head out?"

"Anytime now? I'm ready." Tig smiled back. "Let's hit the road, baby."

☠️☠️☠️

Tig rounded a bend as the pair of them left Charming behind and made their way to the route he had in mind. Pixie followed along behind him, occasionally weaving or opting to drive alongside him before falling back if he needed to turn or they hit a bend. He liked travelling with Pixie, he could tell she was an experienced driver, instinctively knowing where to put her bike and how she travelled with him, it put him at ease, knowing he didn't have to worry about her keeping up with him, in fact, it quickly became apparent that he was going to have to do his best to keep up with _her_. As soon as they got to the long, flat stretch of road that he'd been looking for, Pixie pulled out and accelerated past him pulling up into a wheelie and then setting the bike down, going faster and looping round to meet him. Tig pulled off and took off his helmet and sunglasses, shaking his head, grinning, as he watched Pixie do a second loop and drove past him again. This time taking her hands off the handlebars and holding them straight out, before standing up on her bike. She eventually came back and pulled up next to him, taking off her helmet.

"This is a really good stretch. Secluded too." Pixie beamed happily.

"Question: how fast does your bike go?" Tig raised an eyebrow.

"One fifty if I push the beast." Pixie explained how she modded her bike and Tig listened, becoming more and more impressed by her.

"Damn, that's dedication."

"How fast does yours go? It's a Dyna Super Glide Sport, isn't it?"  
"Yeah, it goes about a hundred, I'm gonna have my work cut out trying to keep up with you, aren't I?"

"Oh, yeah." Pixie smiled. "Wanna race? How far does this road go?"

Tig pulled a map out of his kutte pocket and Pixie kicked out her bike stand so she could come and see it. "It loops up this hill basically, hardly anyone uses it, so we aren't gonna find many people around. There's four bends to the top where there's a viewing point, it's supposed to be some kind of tourist point, but Charming doesn't get tourists."

"Okay, we could go from here and up, I'm good with bends."

Tig nodded. "Sure, though you're gonna have to promise you won't go higher than one-ten. I don't want you getting carried away and coming off the road because it gets steep as hell and I'm not sure even you can cheat death twice."

"Actually, I've cheated death a total of three times." Pixie informed him. "I was a preemie baby right on the borderline of being incompatible with life, then when I lost my leg, and then with the IRA, so my next near-death encounter will be my fourth." Pixie counted, watching Tig as he looked at her in shock and rubbed his face.

"Jesus, baby girl. You're like a cat with nine lives."  
Pixie smiled at the analogy. "Guess I'm down to six now."

"And I'm gonna have to try my hardest to keep it that way." Tig put his hands on Pixie's hips, bringing her closer to him so he could kiss her. "Because I know you thrive off of chaos."

"Chaos is the law of nature, order is the dream of man." Pixie quoted. "Bruce used to liken me to a force of nature."

Tig smiled and kissed her again, Pixie wrapped her arms around his neck to help her reach up to his face. "I agree with that." Tig chuckled. "Now, promise me you're not going to go above the agreed speed limit."  
"How about a hundred and twenty?" Pixie argued cheekily.  
"It isn't up for debate, baby girl. Try that again and you're down to ninety." Tig growled.

"And what will you do if I go over?" Pixie fired back, mischief on her face.

"I'll drag your ass back to the clubhouse, and I'll punish your naughty behaviour." He growled into her ear, sending electric shivers down her spine and butterflies in her abdomen. Heat coursed through her body as Tig nuzzled her ear and gently bit her lobe with a promise of roughness.

"And what will you do if I stay at a hundred and ten?" Pixie murmured, kissing his neck.

"Then I'll treat you like the princess you are, and I'll reward your good behaviour." Tig murmured, kissing down Pixie's neck and gently nipping at the soft skin there causing her heart to race and her knees to weaken. "Do we have a deal?" Tig asked, his voice low as he pulled back to look Pixie in the eye, her face was flushed and her pupil's wide and Tig had to call in every ounce of restraint he had not to scoop her up and take things further.

Pixie nodded and linked pinkies with him. "I promise I'll be good." Tig nodded, satisfied that he'd got his point across. "For now." Pixie finished, taking a step back from and putting on her helmet and got on her bike, starting up the engine.

"You're gonna be the death of me, baby girl." Tig chuckled as he put on his helmet and started up his bike, bringing it onto the road next to Pixie's. "You ready?"

"Yep."

"Get set!" He called over the thrum of the engines. "GO." They both took off, gaining speed before slowing for the bend. They took it easily, Tig keeping a watchful eye as Pixie leant into the bend and accelerated out of it. Their wheels were parallel as they took the next long stretch at well over the legal speed limit, Tig eyed his speedometer, and true to her word, Pixie was travelling at around a hundred and wasn't moving to go any faster. They took the second bend, and Tig gained the advantage, managing to get ahead of Pixie who raced along behind him, eyes focused on the road. They continued like this until the last bend where Pixie managed to weave around Tig and gunned the last stretch before coming to a stop at the viewing point which appeared to be a wooden plinth detailing Charming's history and local landmarks. Tig pulled up a second behind her and they killed their engines.

"I won!" Pixie giggled, throwing her arms up in the air.

"Well done, angel." Tig smiled, parking up his bike so he could go sit on the wooden park bench that overlooked the view of Charming. Pixie followed suit and sat down next to him.

"That was fun." Pixie enthused, "I missed being able to ride like that, I was starting to feel cooped up at the clubhouse."

"I get the feeling. I usually come up to this point when I need to escape too. I started thinking about it when you said you needed a break."  
"This is a good break, thank you, Alex." Pixie said sincerely, reaching up to kiss his cheek. Tig pulled her into his lap, loving how well she fit there and how it comforted him and made him feel grounded. He got the impression it did the same to Pixie as she snuggled up against him and studied the view of Charming. It was beautiful and quiet up here. They could see the complete town, laid out in miniature down below them and the club business suddenly seemed less suffocating and all consuming. Pixie allowed her mind to move away from all her worries and to just be in the moment. Her head rested against Tig's shoulder with her back to his front whilst she absent-mindedly played with his rings, running her fingers over the details of the skulls.

"This kinda reminds me of that dream you had back in Nevada." Tig said after a while of comfortable silence.

"I was thinking the same thing, I liked that dream."

"Me too, darlin'. You know what I like more though?"

Pixie turned her head to see his playful smile. "No?"

"You." Tig chuckled at his own cheesiness which caused Pixie to give a snort of laughter as she sat up.

"You're a big goof." Pixie giggled, sliding off of him to walk closer to the edge so she could see more of the view. Tig followed her and wrapped his arms around her from behind, so he could cradle her in his arms.

"Does Charming feel like home to you, yet?"  
Pixie nodded. "Yeah, I miss Highton like hell, and I don't think I'll ever stop, but Charming is growing on me, and I'm very fond of the inhabitants."

"Oh yeah? Anyone in particular?"

"Well, there's a group of grumpy bikers who I consider family now. One of them's extra grumpy, but I like him a lot, and when he hugs me, I feel like I'm at home in his arms."

Tig kissed the top of her head. "And who might this lovable grump be?"

Pixie tilted her head back to look up at him. "You, silly." She giggled, her eyes twinkling.

Tig took her hand and twirled her around to face him so he could lift her up, setting her down on the wooden plinth so he could step between her legs and kiss Pixie tenderly. Pixie responded by wrapping her legs loosely around his waist and tangling her hands in Tig's hair. They stayed like that for a while, kissing and finding solace in each other until Tig pulled back and checked the time.

"We should probably go find something to eat before the Smokey and the Bandit viewing, any idea what you want to eat?"  
Pixie thought for a second. "My immediate instinct is pancakes, I haven't had pancakes in ages. But that's more of a breakfast food."

Tig laughed at Pixie's suggestion. "We can totally get pancakes if that's what you want, angel. I know a place that makes them fresh for takeout."  
Pixie became visibly excited. "Really? I'd love that!"

"Race you to the bottom?" Tig grinned.

"Oh you're on! If I beat you to the finish line, we have to get ice cream too."

Tig laughed as he helped Pixie down off of the plinth and they grabbed their helmets. "Finish line's the layby I pulled into when we got here. Remember your promise, nothing higher than one hundred and ten, angel."  
"Scout's honour." Pixie nodded cheekily.

"You weren't in the scouts." Tig chuckled.

"You got me, Sons honour?"

"That's better." Tig nodded as he started up his bike. 

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

**I made Tig and Pixie using the "Dollify" app :D**

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	38. Giving Back Episode: Chapter 5

**Semi-Smut with Tig and Pixie at the start of chapter**

Pixie woke up to the early morning sun on her face as she rolled over, feeling the weight of strong arms wrapped around her. Tig was fast asleep, his legs tangled with hers, the picture of serenity and comfort. Pixie smiled, studying the planes of his face and the upper part of his bare torso that wasn't covered by the duvet. Even like this, Tig was still roguishly handsome, and had an air of dominance and danger, he was the epitome of a bad boy, and Pixie was very much here for it. She snuggled closer to him, and Tig stirred, wrapping around her tighter.

"I can feel you staring." Tig grumbled, opened one eye to peer sleepily at Pixie, seeing the overwhelming love and adoration on her cheeky little face.

"You have an ex-con to escort." Pixie reminded him.

"Unfortunately. I'd rather stay here with my baby." Tig sighed, thinking over the night they'd had. He'd taken Pixie to get take-out pancakes, she'd chosen ones with fruit and syrup, and he'd gone for bacon on his. They'd eaten them in a local park and watched the sun set, goofing around and chasing each other. Then they raced off to the cinema. He'd had his arm wrapped around Pixie the entire time as they laughed and cheered their way through 'Smokey and the Bandit'. They'd left soon after and Pixie had kissed him when they reached their bikes and asked him to stay with her when they got to the clubhouse, not wanting the night to end quite so soon. He'd agreed immediately, and they raced each other home, played a couple games of pool with Jax before he'd given up trying to beat Pixie and all three of them had decided to call it a night. He'd borrowed a pair of sweatpants and got into bed with her. They'd made out and talked about little things until Pixie fell asleep and he'd held her in his arms, just embracing the feeling of being there for someone, not just sexually. Pixie was the first girl he'd wanted to get into bed with, full well knowing that nothing overly sexual was going to happen.

"Are you going to sleep again, mister?" Pixie teased, booping his nose and bringing him back to the present. He opened his eyes and looked down at her.

"Maybe, I'm very comfy." He snuggled under the duvet and closed his eyes again.

"Me too, but you've still got a job to do... but I guess I can always cover for you and go pick up a potentially dangerous criminal..." Pixie trailed off teasingly.

Tig's eyes snapped open and he propped himself up on his elbow. "No way am I gonna let that happen. _You're_ going to the fundraiser and you're staying put at least until I can get a feel for the guy, make sure it's safe for you to be around him." Tig growled, partly at the prospect of Pixie being around a potentially dangerous man, and partly at the fact that Pixie had just played him so effortlessly.

Pixie giggled. "I knew that would work, my protective wolf-man."

He growled again and pinned Pixie under him. "You." He kissed her cheek. "Are such a little tease." He kissed her all over her face and neck making her giggle and squirm.

"Speaking of which, I do believe I'm owed a reward." Pixie reminded him when Tig pulled back to hover over her, they smiled breathlessly at each other.

"Oh yeah?" Tig nuzzled her. "Well, I have an idea, but I want you to tell me if it makes you uncomfortable, because I don't wanna hurt you, baby."

Pixie nodded. "Okay." She stroked Tig's hair, smiling up at him as he carefully shuffled down her and pulled up her t-shirt, kissing her stomach and then moving up and towards her breasts. His calloused hands gently kneaded them and Pixie let out a little moan, her face becoming flushed.

"Is that good, princess?" Tig murmured, Pixie nodded breathlessly, a smile on her face as her hands stroked his back and up to his hair. He leant down and gently captured her left nipple in his mouth, carefully sucking and nipping. Pixie's back arched and she gasped in delight, hands fisting in Tig's curls. He switched over and paid some attention to her other breast and Pixie moaned again, sending electricity coursing through Tig. Those little moans were so sultry and alluring that Tig knew they'd be his undoing if he kept this up for too long. He moved up and kissed Pixie, catching her lips and loving how soft they felt against his and how she wrapped herself around him like a koala. He broke the kiss to chuckle.

"Was that a good reward?" He purred as Pixie nibbled along his jawline.

"Yeah, gives me a good incentive to try and behave."

"Are you gonna be good today? You've gotta spend it with Gemma."  
"I'll try, but I can't promise you anything."

Tig kissed her nose. "Okay, no starting fights, you hear me? If she gets to you, walk away and find one of us."

Pixie nodded. "Okay, are you gonna come down once you've got Chuck back to the clubhouse?"

"I'll come down as soon as I can, baby."

Satisfied, Pixie wriggled under him. "Okay, go get ready buster, you've got a job to do and if you're late, Gemma will blame me and I've only just managed to get on her good side."

Tig chuckled. "Yeah, yeah." He kissed her and then got up. "I'm gonna take a shower, you want to get the coffee ready?"

"Sure thing, don't want you getting grumpy." Pixie giggled. She rolled out of bed and pulled on her prosthetic. Tig's phone buzzed on the nightstand so she picked it up and went to the bathroom door. "Tiggy? You just got a message."

"Check it for me, doll." Tig's muffled voice came back.

Pixie opened up the flip phone and clicked the message icon.

H: @Indian Hills, tell C everything good.

Pixie grinned realising it was from Happy. "Happy's back at Indian Hills, wants you to tell Clay everything's good up there."

"Must've got bored back at Tacoma. Thanks, doll." Tig's muffled voice came through the door as he started up the shower.

Pixie pulled on a hoodie and sweatpants and wandered off to the main room to start up the coffee maker and get a bowl of cereal. The cereal wasn't in it's usual spot and she finally tracked it down to a high shelf above the fridge. She sighed and wandered over to Jax's room and knocked on the door, rousing a sleepy Jax.

"What's up, kid?" He greeted, mid-yawn, his hair looked like a deranged lion's mane.

"Did you move the cereal?"

"Got hungry last night, why?" Jax said, stretching out his shoulder muscles. Pixie walked back to the shelf with him following along behind her, intrigued. Pixie raised both arms above her head, showing him that she couldn't even touch the edge of the shelf, let alone grab the box. Jax laughed at her grumpy face and how small she was compared to him as he leant across and got the box down. "Sorry, pipsqueak, I forgot you're tiny."

"I think I need to spend my first paycheck on a step ladder." Pixie chuckled, giving Jax a playful punch on the way past. "You want some? Coffee's almost ready too."

"Yeah, Tig still with you?"

"Yeah, he's showering. Are you going to pick up Chuck too?"  
Jax nodded. "Yup, then I'm heading over to the fundraiser. What's the deal with you and Tig, then?"

Pixie handed him a cup of coffee. "We've already had a similar conversation to this, and I distinctly remember telling you, that my love life is none of your beeswax, Teller."

"Oh c'mon!" Jax pleaded, taking a sip of his drink. "You gotta give me somethin'. I mean, when you first came, we thought you'd end up with Juice, but _Tig_? That came completely out of left field and I've never seen him so weak-kneed before. All you have to do is look at him and he turns into a puddle of goo."

Pixie laughed at Jax's analogy. "I'll admit, I wasn't looking for romance at all, so it surprised me too, but Tig's protective and sweet and caring and we're just going along with what feels right."

Jax mulled it over. "That's real sweet. Good on you, squirt."

"Thanks, Tig showed me a hill route which is great for racing, when you're next free we should totally head up there."

"Oh, you're so on, get ready to eat dust." Jax grinned.

Pixie smiled, looking over her shoulder as Tig came out, dressed in blue jeans and a long sleeve black t-shirt, his usual wallet chain and kutte. "Found some more of my clothes in your room, don't worry, baby, laundry's in the utility room." He listed off, moving to kiss Pixie on the temple and grab the coffee she offered him. "Hey, Jax. Clay and Bobby'll be here in about ten, go throw some clothes on."

"A'ight, thanks for the coffee, kid."

"See ya, Jax, should I wait here until you're back from the prison pick-up?"

"Yeah, stay put, Gemma's got Luann on first shift."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Pixie asked, finishing her coffee.

"Bobby needs his Elvis gear, that'll be in a suit hanger and a duffel bag in the utility room, set it out for him in one of the dorms." Jax instructed.

"On it, boss." Pixie grinned as she got more coffees ready for Clay and Bobby and finished eating her cereal. Tig disappeared for a bit and came back with toast, sitting down at the bar.

"What were you and Jax chatting about?"

"Were your ears burning? We were just chatting about me being with you and racing with Jax at some point, he wants to try and beat me."

"What does he think about, y'know, us?"

"Seems okay with it, why?" Pixie asked, feeling a little anxious.

"That's good, just wanted to make sure there wasn't any tension." Tig soothed, giving Pixie's hand a little pat. Pixie opened her mouth to ask Tig something, then thought better of it and closed it, instead moving to take the dirty dishes to the utility room. Tig was quick to follow along behind her, taking his toast with him. "Hey, what was that about? I've never seen you censor yourself before, babe."

"It's nothing, Tiggy, go get your plate, you're leaving a trail of crumbs." Pixie chided as she put the dishes in the sink.

"No, it's not nothing, tell me." Tig insisted, putting his piece of toast down on the counter so he could grab Pixie and lift her up, setting her down on the worktop next to the sink so they could see eye to eye, he rested his hands on either side of Pixie's legs. "I want you to feel you can be honest with me, no matter what."

Pixie bit her lip and looked down. "What... What are we? I know it's still early days, but we talk about being right for each other, but we've never said what we are."

"Why didn't you want to ask me that straight away, baby?" Tig asked, stroking the side of her face and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Sons don't usually like to label this kind of stuff unless they're deadly serious."

"Have I done anything to make you think I'm not serious about this?" Tig asked, catching her chin so he could look her in her big hazel eyes.

"No, bu-"

"But nothing. I'm serious about you, Meggie." Tig said firmly. "Sure it's early days, but you gotta start somewhere and I'm already more committed to you than I've been to anyone else, and I want to keep it that way. Only reason I haven't put a label on it was because I wasn't sure where you were at with all this. Is a label something you want, darlin'?" Tig asked gently, but seriously.

Pixie bit her lip again and nodded. "Yeah, please." her hand went to Tig's and she linked her fingers with his. Tig smiled and wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling her neck and kissing her.

"You can call me your boyfriend." He crooned, kissing the base of Pixie's neck. "Your old man... your lover... your partner..." Tig listed kissing up Pixie's neck slowly in between his words. "Your significant other. You getting the message here, baby?" Tig grinned as he reached Pixie's face.

"I think so." She teased, a big happy, relieved grin on her face. "If you're all that to me, then what am I to you?" She asked coyly, before kissing him quickly on the lips.

Tig reciprocated and then kissed her forehead. "You're my girlfriend... my old lady... my girl... my lover... my partner." Tig continued, kissing Pixie's face and neck. He put his hands on either side of her face. "But most importantly, you are _mine_." He kissed her firmly on the lips and Pixie leant into him, kissing him back.

"You're mine too, Alex." Pixie breathed, their foreheads touching.

"Glad we got that cleared up, baby doll."

"Me too, now go wait for Clay and Bobby, you need to focus on the job at hand, not me."

"But _you're_ in my hands." Tig joked with a little pout.

Pixie rolled her eyes and kissed him before shooing him off back to the bar so she could finish her tasks and take a shower.

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie got through her morning routine in quick succession and found Bobby's costume, laying it out for him in her room so he could change quickly. Clay, Bobby and Half-Sack had met Tig and Jax at the clubhouse and the five of them had set off with the van to transport Chuck back safely a while ago. She checked the time and sucked in a breath, the boys were cutting it fine if they wanted to be at the fundraiser for before it was open for the public. Pixie got herself ready and grabbed her backpack, bringing it to the main bar room to wait for them as she heard a motorcycle park up and Piney came through the door a few seconds later.

"Morning, Pines, you want coffee?"  
"Morning darlin', please. Didn't sleep so good." He rasped as he ambled across to the bar and took his seat.

"Oh, why's that?"

"Couldn't get comfortable. Lungs are driving me up the wall."

Pixie nodded in understanding as she set to work. "Have you tried sleeping propped up? It might take the pressure off of them."

"I'll try that, but if it doesn't work, I'll just drink myself to sleep."

"Now, now, Piney, we don't want that, you need to let your body rest, not work overtime." Pixie scolded lightheartedly. "Otherwise, what would this club do without it's fearless advisor?"

Piney smiled and patted Pixie's hand as she came to sit next to him at the bar. "You're a sweet-talker, ain't ya?"

"Nah, I just think it's important to be genuinely nice to people, no ulterior motives here." Pixie assured him. "Unlike some people." She muttered.

"You mean Clay?" Piney asked her, eyebrow raised.

"I'm not gonna outright say it, because he's my president now, and I have to trust that he has the club's best intentions at heart, but..." Pixie trailed off. Piney nodded and took a slow sip of his coffee, nodding.

"I understand, darlin'. " Piney smiled. "Between you and me, I think the power's gone to his head."

"And the gun green." Pixie put in, glad to be able to get her concerns off of her chest.

"That too. He plays with people which I don't agree with. It's not the way John Teller would've done it, but John's not here."

"I don't mean to pry, but what happened to John? I haven't really heard about him a lot, I've only seen his pictures and I feel like I'm missing out on something."

"He was the brains behind this club's creation, this was his whole project." Piney said, gesturing to the clubhouse. "He wanted to create a sense of belonging and family for society's outcasts. He wanted this place to be like a Harley commune, he was very into all that hippy shit back then." Piney explained, his eyes took on a faraway look and he smiled gently at the memories of his best friend. Pixie liked seeing this softer side of Piney.

Pixie giggled. "John sounds like he was a good guy then, I like that idea. My charter, before we got involved with the IRA, was peaceful. Only illegal shit we did was transport medical equipment to villages in need and take out other criminals, the rest of the time we just hung out and protected the innocents."

Piney nodded. "That's exactly what John wanted, not all this gun shit. He was never overly violent, not even in 'naam. He died in a traffic accident, laid down his bike under a semi-truck."

"You guys served together? Damn that's impressive, mad respect to you." Pixie nodded. "I'm sorry he went out that way, I would have liked to meet him."

"I think he would've liked you a lot, kid. Don't let Clay get to you, you have a good heart and this club needs that." Piney said firmly.

The door opened and Clay came in hauling a much shorter bald man in by his shoulder. Clay usually had a scowl on his face, but Pixie thought he looked extra-displeased with who she guessed was Chuck. Chuck had scratches on his head and cut to his right ear lobe, which Pixie immediately picked up on and felt obligated to help. The bad man looked wildly around the clubhouse, taking in surroundings with a sense of unease, relief, and paranoia. She got down off of the seat and wandered over as Jax and the others came through the door as well.

"Hi, you must be Chuck." Pixie smiled, holding out her hand. Tig darted forward and immediately put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her hand back from Chuck's.

"You don't wanna touch that, trust me." He murmured into her hair. Pixie looked a little puzzled at Tig but continued.

"I'm Pixie. Are you hurt?" She continued, feeling for the anxious man.

"Nice to meet you. Just some cuts, I got beat up yesterday." Chuck explained, his hands smoothed down his grey polo shirt and went to the waistband of his trousers. 

"There's a first aid kit in the utility room , I-" was all Pixie could manage before Tig carted her out the door.

"Sack, get the first aid kit, help Chuck, we're gonna be outside." He called out over his shoulder, grabbing Pixie's backpack which was on the couch so she wouldn't have an excuse to go back in.

"Tiggy! What's the matter with you?" Pixie asked, trying to break out of his grip as he hauled her over to the bikes, trying to put as much distance between Pixie and Chuck as he possibly could.

"That dude's got issues. Like serious issues, baby, you're too pure to be exposed to that." Tig explained, sitting down on his bike to wait for the others.

"Tiggy, I've killed people, what issues does he have that's worse than that?"

"Trust me on this baby, it's very gross and something you don't wanna see."

Pixie sighed, knowing Tig was not gonna give up on this. "Okay, fine, I trust your word, I still feel like I should help, I don't like judging people."

Tig felt a warm smile on his face as he regarded Pixie, she was so pure, despite everything she'd been through. "I know doll, and I love that you don't judge, but I'm doing this to keep you safe, you hear?"

"I hear, Tiggy." Pixie smiled, she looked across the lot as Jax and Bobby came ambling out to them and she couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips as she took in Bobby in full Elvis gear. "I see Elvis has left the building."

Tig gave a snort of laughter as he sat down on his bike properly and clipped his helmet on.

"You ready to go?" Pixie inquired as Jax and Bobby reached them.

"Almost, the King's still gotta put on his helmet over his wig." Jax said with an eye roll.

"Hey, the king of rock and roll cannot have helmet hair, I gotta do it properly." Bobby replied indignantly as he started .

"Couldn't you put the wig on at the fundraiser?" Pixie asked, with a confused expression.

"That'll ruin the magic for the kids, we can't let them down." Jax said sarcastically, suggesting that he'd had this very talk with Bobby before. Pixie giggled and started up her engine, giving it a few revs.

"Gemma's gonna be making us into Samcro chilli if we don't leave soon." She warned the guys.

Jax grinned as he started up his bike. "Why don't we go and let Tig and Bobby catch up?"

"Oh you're on, race you?" Pixie's eyes lit up.

Jax knew it probably wasn't the best idea, but most of Charming PD would already be down at the fundraiser and he'd been looking for an opportunity to do this. "Hell yeah, c'mon." He revved his bike and took off, Pixie pulled down her visor and followed, giving a cheeky grin to Tig on the way past.

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	39. Giving Back Episode: Chapter 6

Pixie roared into the lot, tied with Jax as they pulled in against the bike racks and killed their engines. "Tig's gonna kill me." She giggled, taking off her helmet.

"Worth it, your riding is insane." Jax chuckled, thinking about how Pixie managed to gain the lead on him by weaving through the traffic expertly. "They aren't far behind us, so get your best puppy dog expression going."

Pixie pretended to pout at Jax to make him laugh as he got off his bike and the two of them moved out of the way as soon as they spotted Tig and Bobby making their way up the road and into the school's parking lot, drawing up next to them. Tig dismounted and came striding over to Pixie, putting his hands on his hips.

"Baby, I thought we agreed no causing trouble today." He reminded her.

"We agreed no causing trouble with _Gemma_ , never said anything about Jax." Pixie smiled mischievously.

"Got you there." Jax put in, enjoying Pixie's playfulness.

Tig sighed. "No more trouble, I mean it." He said firmly, eyeing up both of them this time.

"Okay, I promise Mr Buzzkill." Pixie linked her little finger with Tig's.

"Buzzkill? Oh you little-" Tig started, making a grab for Pixie until Jax and Bobby redirected his attention to where a fancy pick-up truck had just parked up and a tall man with a blonde buzz cut and sharp blue eyes got out. Pixie guessed he was in his late thirties as he turned to wrap his arm around a younger blonde woman.

"Put on your sunblock baby, you know how you burn." The younger woman chided, nuzzling up to him.

"Oh, I did." The guy replied, giving her a quick kiss before a small brunette haired girl suddenly launched herself out of a family car and ran towards him with a gleeful cheer. "Hey! What's up buttercup?" The guy picked her up and cuddled her tightly to his chest. Pixie was about to ask if they knew the guy from the way Jax, Tig and Bobby were all staring daggers in his direction, until she caught sight of April, the woman who'd spoken to Gemma at the fundraiser set up. Pixie guessed the man must be Kyle and reached to grab a hold of Tig's hand, just to remind him not to do anything rash. April seemed to scold Kyle about something, before ushering the kids off with her. Pixie looked up at Jax who had his jaw set in an agitated manner.

"Go check in with Gemma." He ordered, giving Tig a pat on the back to get him moving. The three of them gave a last look at Kyle and Jax before they headed off in the direction of the stalls.

"You think Jax is gonna try something with Kyle?" Pixie asked Bobby as he straightened his white Elvis suit.

"He better not, we gotta keep it civil for Opie."

"Sons haven't really been known to be all that civil, but I agree, I hope Opie's okay, this must really suck for him. He needs a hug."

Bobby chuckled at Pixie's sweetness and looped an arm around her shoulders. "Think we could all do with a magic Pixie hug. Mind helping me out with kid wrangling? Opie says you're fantastic with Kenny and Ellie."

Pixie perked up a little. "Sure thing, Presley. What're you gonna do, Tiggy?"

"Keep an eye on you, that and help with the car park marshalling, asking Charming residents to park within the white lines is like asking Bobby to go a day without mentioning Elvis."

Pixie giggled at Tig's lightheartedness and at the way Bobby dramatically scoffed. "I am not obsessed with Elvis." He huffed.

"Not a good argument when you're currently clad wig to boot in Elvis memorabilia." Pixie stage whispered which earned her a snort from Tig. They rounded the corner and Gemma came rushing at them, grabbing Bobby and towing him towards his booth.

"Shit, you're late, Elvis." She scolded him. Tig was quick to turn around and duck out of the situation, knowing how Gemma got when stressed.

"Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get _this_ into a helmet?" Bobby growled back, gesturing dramatically to his quiffed wig.

"The kids are waiting." Gemma hissed, ignoring his protest.

"I know, I know. C'mon Pixie." He beckoned, putting his Elvis sunglasses on and checking his white suit over before stepping through to the stall. Pixie followed along behind and hoped that her black Samcro t-shirt and purple jeans was enough as she hadn't expected to be Elvis' PA today. "Bless my soul, oh, look at all God's children." Bobby exclaimed, putting on his best Elvis accent as he approached the kids table. There were a couple of them eating cake and already with feather boas and blow-up guitars. "So tell me, who wants to look like Elvis?" Bobby asked enthusiastically. The kids turned around excitedly and immediately raised their hands and clamoured for attention. Pixie got to work organising them and interacting so Bobby could have a chance to work with them one at a time. Pixie realised that she knew most of the lyrics to "Hound Dog" and a few other Elvis songs thanks to growing up in the Highton Sons' clubhouse where the stereo was always on, playing classic rock tracks.

"Hey kiddies! Who wants to sing and dance like Elvis?" She exclaimed excitedly, getting down on their level. The kids waiting for their turn with the King looked at her, wide-eyed in anticipation. "Let's start with Hound Dog, yeah?"

A few of the kids recognised the song title and immediately jumped up, ready to have fun.

☠️☠️☠️

Opie walked into the fundraiser with a pit in his stomach. He had so hoped to see Kyle look like an absolute wreck, nothing without the club or his family. Instead, the first thing Opie had seen was Kyle hanging out with some hot blonde chick next to a brand new and highly-expensive pickup truck. It made him sick seeing Kyle so successful, after everything Kyle had done to the club. To his family. To _him_. He wanted so badly to march over to the bastard and knock his teeth out, but he knew that he'd asked for this. He'd told everyone it was okay, but now Opie was in this situation, he realised it was not fucking okay. Jax had tried to steer him clear, told him to focus on his family, but the thought of having Kenny and Ellie in the same space as Kyle set his blood boiling. Donna could sense something was wrong but there was no way Opie was telling her what really happened with Kyle, she had her own burdens and didn't need his on top of them.

Opie looked around the fundraiser looking for something he could do to distract himself, and then he heard it. "Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit, and you ain't no friend of mine!" Pixie sang with a chorus of kid's voices following along, she had them lined up doing Elvis movements and jamming along to her singing. Opie hadn't known Pixie could even sing, but she was certainly carrying the notes and keeping up with the beat. Seeing her so carefree and happy made him smile. If Pixie could get through the demolition of her entire charter and family, and still find the motivation to get up in the morning and do something like this, then Opie decided that he could too. Ellie tugged his hand, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Dad? Can I go say 'hi' to Pixie? I want to do the Elvis dress-up too."

"Sure sweetheart." he beamed down at his daughter, she was so beautiful and her little face lit up his life, he turned to Donna. "You alright with Kenny? Why don't you take him ring-tossing?"

"Yeah, let's do that Kens." Donna nodded, splitting off from him and Ellie as he led her across the grass to the stall. Bobby gave him a quick nod mid-photo with a baby Elvis, and he reciprocated, unsure of how he felt about a six month old with sideburns. Pixie twirled around and spotted him and Ellie, a huge smile lighting up her face.

"Opie! Ellie! How you guys doing?" Pixie opened her arms for a big hug from Ellie before letting her go and reaching for Opie. Their height difference meant Opie had to stoop down, so on instinct he just lifted her up, Pixie hung on tighter giggling as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"You okay buddy?" She murmured to him. Opie nodded, but his eyes said the opposite when Pixie caught sight of them as Opie set her down again. He looked so lost and hurt, she recognised the pain there as she had felt and seen it in her own eyes, and Pixie knew she had to do something to bring him out of the negative head space.

"Hey, Ellie, why don't you get your face painted?" Pixie gestured to the lady who had just finished up painting an electric guitar on a young boy's cheek. Ellie nodded happily and trotted over to the woman, asking about fairy face paint. "Dance with me." Pixie said, turning back to Opie and looking up at him.

Opie's brow furrowed under the rim of his beanie. "What?"

"Dance with me, let loose. I'm showing the kids how to dance like Elvis, so why don't you have a go?"  
"I'm not a dancer." Opie laughed, Pixie rolled her eyes and grabbed his hands.

"Yeah, because we're surrounded by six year old professionals, c'mon man, let's groove." Pixie giggled, she pulled him over to where one of the stall attendants had kindly put a boom box with an Elvis CD in once they'd seen what Pixie was trying to do. "I've been teaching the kids this move from 'Jailhouse Rock'," Pixie demonstrated, putting her arms out then bent then swinging them from one to the other with alternating bent legs whilst she swung her hips. Opie recognised the move immediately and had to hand it to Pixie for being an actual good dancer. "Can you try that?" Pixie asked him, slowing the move down for him so he could attempt to copy. Opie tried it, making himself chuckle as he realised he was pretty uncoordinated.

Pixie giggled at his attempt. "Good job, you're kinda looking like Carlton from 'Fresh Prince', but he was a good dancer too." She joked, Opie couldn't help but laugh at the comparison and playfully swatted at her. They tried again with the kids joining in, and eventually Opie got it, almost going in time with the music. Pixie gave him a gleeful clap. "You're doing it, bud!" She turned to where Ellie was getting the last of her face paint on. "Hey, Ellie, look at your dad! He's got moves!"

Ellie watched her dad goofily dance around with Pixie, laughing with each other and she giggled at the scene of her dad looming over all the kids and trying his best to dance like Elvis. Upon hearing his daughter's happy giggle, it spurred Opie on more, he forgot about his troubles and just let loose with Pixie. He improvised with some moves of his own that his mind dredged up from when he used to go clubbing with Jax in their early twenties. He twirled Pixie around and she laughed so hard she let out a little snort which made Opie laugh harder and he had to abandon his dancing in order to not fall on the kids behind him, who were enjoying seeing two adults mess around like they were kids themselves. Ellie came rushing over and Opie started dancing with her too, so Pixie stepped back so they could focus on bonding together. She decided that after all that exercise, she needed to go get a drink and wash her face, she let Bobby know and sauntered across to the school building, rounding the corner and almost collided with Jax and Kyle as the former hauled the latter up against the wall as they argued with each other in hushed voices.

"Are you guys gonna kiss or what?" Pixie put in, putting her hands on her hips in displeasure. Jax and Kyle both whipped their heads around to look at Pixie, not even realising that she'd approached them. Jax caught sight of the daggers Gemma was sending his way from across the courtyard as she spotted the kerfuffle too. Jax stepped away from Kyle, patting down his jacket from where he'd grabbed it.

"Get out of my sight." Jax snarled, grabbing Pixie around the middle and pulling her along with him.

"Jax, what the hell was that?" Pixie said, abandoning her hopes of having a break and turning her attention to the fact that Jax was severely pissed.

"Nothing, just that asshole trying to buy his way back in. Keep away from him."

"As if I was actively seeking him out, I _was_ actually trying to go wash my face and get a drink."

Jax looked down at her as if he was clicking back into reality, calming down a bit. "Oh sorry, guess I kinda hauled you away from there, huh?"

"Ya think?" Pixie laughed. "Dude, I get I'm small, but I'm not supposed to be portable."

Jax smiled and readjusted his grip so he could actually pick Pixie up this time. "You sure? 'Cause you're pretty easy to carry, lightweight."

"You better go speak to your mum, she does not look happy." Pixie said gesturing to where Gemma stood, eyeing her son the way a hawk eyes a mouse.

Jax put Pixie down and sighed. "Guess it's not our day for keeping out of trouble."

"It never is." Pixie smiled. "Look at Opie, I got him dancing and he's actually having a good time, he was in really bad shape before."

Jax looked across to where Opie was doing dance moves with Ellie, they were chuckling together as Opie tried to do a complex move and ended up stumbling instead. Jax felt his heart soften at seeing his best friend so carefree again. It had been a long while since he'd seen Opie like this and he had to hand it to Pixie, she had a knack for helping people. "He deserves to have a good day today. He feels like he hasn't won against Kyle, but that smile right there proves that he has."  
"Of course he has, Opie will always win against Kyle because Opie has genuine kindness, intelligence and humbleness." Pixie said firmly.

Jax patted her on the back. "Exactly, it's doing him good, spending time with you and Ellie, you're pulling him back from the brink."

Pixie blushed a little and shrugged. "I'm only creating a safe space, he's doing all the work."

"How 'bout I get you a slushie? I kinda owe you a drink considering I forcibly dragged you away." Jax offered.

Pixie nodded. "Sure, blue's the best, you should get one too so then I don't look as much of a weirdo when I get a blue tongue."

Jax chuckled. "You're a weirdo, regardless of the blue tongue, but yeah, I'll get one too."

Pixie playfully punched his arm. "Say's you, Teller." Pixie laughed, then imitated his walk, making it comical as she swaggered from side to side. Jax joined in on the laughter and pulled her into a loose headlock as they ambled to the slushie vendor.

☠️☠️☠️

After her break, Pixie got back to work, helping out on the chilli stand in time for the lunch rush so Gemma wasn't bogged down. Pixie got to chat with Luann again and enjoyed her company, listening to the stories about the Sons Luann told her and the interesting predicaments she'd found herself in whilst working in the * **cough** * entertainment industry * **cough** *. When the lunch rush was finally over, Pixie was exhausted from standing up for so long, Gemma sent her off for more paper plates and then agreed Pixie could tap out for an hour, which Pixie was surprised at, but wasn't going to argue with. She did her last job and then checked in with Bobby to see if he needed a hand. He waved her off, seeing how worn out she was, and made her laugh by doing silly dance moves at Chief Unser who was grilling steaks with the Charming PD booth. He waved at them both with the spatula and got back to work with a comical shake of his head. Pixie went to find a good place to settle, but was waved down by the Winstons who were camped out on a couple of hay bales.

"Hey, Pixie! Come sit, you're limping." Opie beckoned her over and she flopped down next to him.

"Did you hurt your leg?" Kenny asked with childhood curiosity.

"I'll let you in on a little secret." Pixie stage whispered, leaning forwards towards the two kids who joined in, eager to know what Pixie was up to now. She lifted up her trouser leg to show them her prosthetic.

"Cool!" Kenny exclaimed, having never seen one before. "So are you a robot?"

Pixie giggled. "No, I'm still human, but this part of me isn't, so I guess, that makes me a cyborg."

Kenny gasped. "That's even cooler! You're like a superhero!"

"Hell yeah!" She agreed. "Super Pixie." Pixie announced like a dramatic TV presenter. "That has a nice ring to it, huh, Ope?"

Opie chuckled and nodded. "Sure."  
"Super Pixie!" Kenny copied Pixie's tone of voice, making explosion effects. "Off to save the world!"  
"Maybe not the world, but I'll keep Charming safe." Pixie thought aloud, enjoying the kids' company.

"That's good, superheroes always have a town they protect, like Batman and Gotham." Ellie put in. "My friend Alfie likes Batman."

"Batman's good, but you know who's cooler?" Pixie asked her. Ellie shook her head. "This guy!" Pixie proclaimed, wrapping her arms around Opie.

"Dad's a superhero?" Kenny asked, looking at the adults.

"Oh, yeah, definitely." Donna nodded, laughing.

"See, his kutte's like his superhero outfit, and he's super strong and brave." Pixie added. "That's why he wears his beanie, it protects his identity, like how Superman wears his glasses when he's disguised as Clark Kent."

"Oh yeah!" Kenny jumped up. "Mommy? Can I go tell my friends that dad's a superhero?"

Donna nodded, watching him zoom off to a group of kids similar to his age with a herd of parents keeping a watchful eye on the rambunctious group. Opie looked over to where there was a daddy-daughter egg toss competition, noticing Kyle was up there with his little girl.

"How about we go try the egg toss, Ellie?" He asked her. Ellie looked a little panicked and looked as though she might say no. Pixie sensed it could be down to the fact she didn't want to drop the egg and leant over to her, holding her hand.

"Go give it a try, it doesn't matter if you drop it, and if you do get egg on you, we can easily go wash it off together, so you won't get embarrassed."

"You think it'll be okay?" She asked.

"Sure, honey, let's have a go." Opie nodded, reaching for her hand. He watched as Pixie looked at the line with an almost wistful expression on her face and a look of sadness. "Before we go, why don't you go get some churros for your mom?" he suggested, giving Ellie a couple of dollars. Ellie took up the opportunity and scampered off, with Donna keeping a watchful eye. "Pix, you alright?" He nudged Pixie with his elbow gently.

Pixie nodded immediately, putting on a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Yeah, don't worry about me."

Donna saw that Pixie was trying to be strong, and she felt her heart go out to the younger woman, she took Pixie's hand comfortingly. "Opie told me about what happened to your family, is the egg toss making you miss your dad?" She asked gently.

Pixie took a deep breath in and out to calm herself. "Yeah, even when he was alive he never did that kind of thing with me, makes me a little sad that I never got to do that sort of bonding activity. It's really good you're doing this with Ellie, Opie, she needs memories like this."

Opie exchanged a glance with Donna and then back at Pixie. "How about we go up together, Pixie? Ellie won't mind, and you can toss an egg with me and her, we can make a triangle."

Pixie looked up at him in surprise and gratitude. "Ope, that's really sweet, but I think this is something you need to do with just your daughter."

"I think Kenny and Ellie have both adopted you as their honorary older sibling. They love hanging out with you, so I'll be your honorary dad just for a bit, that way you can have that experience, especially as Chibs isn't here." Opie chuckled.

Pixie looked up at him with wide eyes. "You sure?"

Ellie came running back with a cone of churros and gave them to Donna. "Ellie? You want Pixie to come do the egg toss with us?" Opie asked her.

Ellie's face lit up immediately. "Yeah!"

Opie stood up and pulled Pixie to her feet. "Come on then, kids."

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	40. Giving Back Episode: Chapter 7

Pixie, Ellie and Opie began the egg toss pretty well, laughing with each other as they all tried to catch the egg without it breaking. They only got into difficulty when they widened the gaps further between them as part of the game and had to throw the egg with a little more power. Finally, Opie crushed the egg in his fist by accident as he tried to catch Ellie's throw. He winced, feeling the egg squish and run down his arm and Ellie burst out laughing with Pixie, seeing her dad's predicament. Pixie expected Opie to make a light-hearted joke, but instead, he glanced over to where Kyle was still throwing with his daughter pretty well, and he scowled. Sensing Opie's mood sour a little, Pixie distracted Ellie by running over to her and grabbing her hand, not wanting Ellie to take Opie's scowl as being a reaction to something she'd done.

"Hey, Elle, that was so fun! You did a great job, why don't you go see if you can win a game of hook-a-duck? They have toy motorbikes as prizes, I bet your mum will help."

"Really? Okay, I'm good at hook-a-duck." Ellie nodded and smiled, running over to Donna who was already waiting, picking up on what Pixie was up to. She gave Pixie a grateful smile and took her daughter off to play. Pixie walked over to where Opie was shaking the egg from his hand.

"Dammit, it's in my rings." He muttered to himself.

"Opie, breathe bud, ignore Kyle." Pixie murmured, guiding Opie away from the line. "You don't have to torture yourself by comparing yourself to him, all that's gonna do is upset both you, and Ellie."

Opie took a breath. "I need to sort the fireworks." He grunted, striding away from Pixie, fists clenching and unclenching. Pixie knew she needed backup, and fast. She scanned the grounds, looking for Jax as she trotted after Opie. She quickly detected him by the chilli stand talking to Gemma. Pixie did a little wave and a jump to gain Jax's attention and mouthed "HELP" pointing to Opie's retreating figure. Jax nodded and strode over quickly.

"Wassup?"

"Opie squished his egg before Kyle and it hit a nerve. He wanted to be better than him, I think." Pixie gave him the lowdown as they walked over to where Opie was wiping his hand on a napkin before roughly hauling the boxes of fireworks into an unsteady pile they didn't need to be in.

Jax nodded and walked over to Opie causally, with Pixie in tow. "Yo, how'd the egg toss go?" Jax asked casually, acting nonchalant.

"Muffed a catch." Opie grumbled, sitting down on a low wall and stroking his beard, leg bouncing. Jax moved a box and sat down next to him, Pixie made a more stable pile of the fireworks boxes and made a space on the other side of Opie to sit down next to him. Opie's eyes gravitated to the egg toss again and he sighed. "I wanted that guy to be a miserable piece of shit without Samcro." Opie growled. Jax thought over his words, brow creasing in worry for where Opie's head was at. Pixie gently put a hand on Opie's knee to still the frantic movements so he could focus on staying calm. He gave her a small smile and then bowed his head. "I tell you, I'm having a hard time, man."

Jax passed him a cigarette and lit one for himself, passing the lighter to Opie. "Here." he said gently, knowing it was the fastest way to calm Opie down, other than him going ham on a punching bag.

"You know, this club means everything to me. The only thing I ever wanted from the time I went here." Opie said, gesturing to the highschool building behind them. Pixie listened with understanding, knowing the life he was talking about, growing up with the kutte being the end goal. Hell, she'd been the exact same. "But everything else, Donna...the kids...work...they're all heading in the opposite direction. I just can't hook shit up." Opie said exasperatedly, relieved to be able to open up more about what was going on inside his head. "I feel like I'm missing on every front." Opie continued his train of thought.

"Hey, hey, hey." Pixie said gently, bringing him back to the present. "Remember what I said to you yesterday at your place? The only thing you can do, is be yourself, okay? You're trying your hardest and it's going to be an uphill struggle, I'm not going to lie to you, but when you reach the point where things do start working out, it will all be worth it, and it'll make you a better person for it. All the best rewards in life require you to go tough as shit tasks in order to receive them, and this situation is no different. Your kids and Donna adore you, and sure, it's bumpy now, but they're gonna be there to see this whole thing through, Opie." Pixie said honestly, gently rubbing his forearm in a calming manner. Opie nodded, gaining his overwhelmed expression at Pixie's unrelenting positivity and kindness, he turned to his brother.

"What do you think?"

Jax smiled down at the floor, knowing the struggle Opie was going through all too well. "I got no answers man." He said honestly. "Pixie's the one with the motivational speeches. Hell, my family plan is right out of the Sid and Nancy handbook." Pixie smiled wryly at the Sex Pistols reference. "I'm so used to shit moving in the other direction, I don't know what I'd do if something actually hooked up."

"Amen to that." Pixie giggled, breaking the tension. "But knowing you, Teller, if something went right, you'd want to party non-stop until someone carts you off to your dorm room because you can't walk anymore."

"Oh hell yeah, that's the best way." Opie put in, making the three of them chuckle. He patted Jax's and Pixie's knees that were closest to him. Opie took another look at Kyle, just as he missed the egg and it broke on his left shoulder, running down his coat. He laughed with his daughter and tried to wipe off some of the gunk. "You think he's happy?"

"No, he's Kyle." Pixie wisecracked, Opie couldn't help but smile at the stupid little joke.

"I don't know." Jax answered Opie, shaking his head, smiling too. The three of them watched as Kyle hugged his daughter, then put her down so his new girlfriend could help get him out of his coat without getting egg on the rest of his outfit. The back of his shirt got caught and rode up as the blonde tried to peel him out of the coat and the trio honed in on the stark black lettering of the Sons reaper tattoo that stood out from Kyle's pale skin like ink on parchment.

"Still has that tat'." Opie said as he and Jax looked on in disbelief and annoyance, whilst Pixie felt a knot form in her stomach, she knew that once you're out of the Sons, you have to cover your tattoos, either by removal, or by blacking them out.

"Yeah." Jax growled, standing up and throwing down his cigarette, almost like a gauntlet, ready to challenge the ex-Son.

Opie stood up too and grabbed Jax's arm. "No." He said firmly. "This is me." Before striding off after Kyle, a look of wild rage in his eyes.

"Uh, Jax? What happened to 'no causing a scene at Gemma's fundraiser'?" Pixie asked quickly, watching Opie stalk Kyle as Kyle met up with his son and walked into the gymnasium.

"I got this under control, go to the gym doors, make sure no one goes in until I get there. Don't go in either, this has to be between Kyle and Opie only. I'm gonna go speak to Donna, then I'm on my way." Jax instructed.

Pixie sighed, knowing there was nothing she could do except try and keep Opie safe. "You better hope none of the kids see, you should've just sent Kyle away." Pixie stated, looking up at Jax with disapproval, before jogging off after Opie and Kyle. Pixie spotted a poster up on one of the walls advertising a dog walker, so she pulled it off, grabbed a marker from a nearby stand and scrawled 'out of order' on the back of the poster, then stuck the improvised sign on one of the the windows of the closed gym door, then stood in front of the other one so no one could see inside as one peek and you could clearly see Opie and Kyle rolling around on the floor, punching the living daylights out of each other. Pixie pulled out her phone and sent a message to Tig.

P: @ gym doors, need a hand. Trb w. O & K.

It didn't take long for Tig to appear, jogging over with his brow furrowed. "What's going on, baby?"

"Kyle and Opie are currently settling their feud in the gym, you know, like rational adults." Pixie said with an eye roll, sticking a thumb over her shoulder to point inside. Tig took a look and winced at the cracking sound Opie's fist made as it connected with Kyle's nose. "Jax says he's gonna handle it, and to let them battle it out, but I need help making sure no one comes in the door, I'm not exactly intimidating or official looking."

Tig nodded and moved Pixie aside gently so he could take up position as bouncer until Jax arrived. "When did this start?"

"Opie's been down about Kyle all day, I've been trying to distract him, but it came to a head over the egg tossing."

"I was half-expecting something like this, they never got the chance to work things through before Opie's arrest, and Kyle was exiled during Opie's prison stint."

Pixie nodded. "I feel for the kids, both Opie's and Kyle's. They're going to see the aftermath of their dads' discussion and that's gonna make them panicked and upset. Today is supposed to be a rare chance for them to spend quality time with their dads."

Tig saw the compassion and pain in Pixie's eyes. "I know doll, this whole situation sucks. Is it making you miss Bruce a little?"

Pixie bit her lip and nodded, looking down. "I grew up thinking Bruce was this badass immortal biker chief. From a kid's perspective, having a Son as a dad makes them seem indestructible and untouchable. They go through so much and come out the other side every time. They're like these big all-powerful role models to their kids without even realising it. So when their dads do actually get hurt or...die, it makes the pain and the worry so much worse and it's scary. The world suddenly seems nastier and bigger than your dad, the biker hero. It makes you feel so small and I wouldn't wish that feeling on any kid."

Tig tugged Pixie into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "I get it. You've been through so much pain, and you don't want the kids going through the same thing."

"Yeah. I'm twenty-two and it almost destroyed me, I don't even know how I would have handled it at the ages Opie's and Kyle's kids are at."

"It's good you're looking out for them, and like you, those kids are resilient. They'll get through, especially with you, Donna and the rest of the club looking over them." Tig soothed, his heart hurt for Pixie and he wished he could whisk her out of the situation Jax, Kyle and Opie had put her in. The stress was really getting to Pixie, and Tig knew that she could only take so much before she reached her breaking point. Pixie held on to him for a moment longer, then pulled back, running a hand over her face to calm herself as she focused on bringing her mind back to the present. "I was watching you dance around earlier, you're actually pretty good, darlin'." Tig told her, changing the topic to help pixie settle her nerves.

"I'm not that good, I just spent a lot of time dancing around my bedroom as a kid." Pixie smiled. "Did you see Opie? He was really going for it." Pixie smiled, recalling the funny moves Opie had busted out.

Tig chuckled. "Yeah, he looked like Gulliver having a dance party on Lilliput island."

Pixie laughed at the reference. "You've read 'Gulliver's Travels?"

"Yeah, course, I used to be big on adventure books as a kid, it was one of my favourites other than 'The Call of the Wild'."

Pixie's eyes lit up. "I love that book! I had a copy back in Highton, I read it to the point the pages fell out and I had to stick it back together with gaffer tape."

Tig grinned. "I stuck mine back together with tape too. The book gave me a love of dogs, and an appreciation for the wilderness."

"Same here, dogs are amazing, I grew up with a brown and white staffie dog called 'Scampi'. Bruce loved dogs too, but when Scampi died when I was ten, he never wanted to get another friend. I, on the other hand, intend to own as many dogs as I can."

Tig's heart melted. "I had a dog for a long time in my early adult years, I miss her a lot, but never got another because I didn't know who would be able to take care of it if I had to go on a run."

"Well, if you ever get another dog, I'd be happy to look after it." Pixie grinned eagerly.

"Better yet, why don't we get a dog together when all this shit dies down and everything's calmer?" Tig posed the question.

Pixie's eyes lit up. "Really? You'd want to do that with me?"  
"Course, you're responsible and loving, you'd make a great co-dog owner." Tig enthused. Jax appeared from around the corner and nodded his head to both of them.

"A'ight, they done in there?"

"Haven't heard any grunts in a while, so hopefully, yeah." Pixie told him. "Make sure they wash up good, their kids shouldn't have to see their dads covered in blood."

Jax nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Gemma needs a hand back at the chilli stand, can you go help?"

"On it, boss." Pixie replied, she gave Tig a quick pat on the arm and then headed off to the stand. Jax went to move past Tig, but he placed a hand on Jax's chest.

"What's going on here?" He asked lowly.

"Opie needed to settle the score with Kyle. He lost it when we spotted that Kyle still has his reaper tat'." Jax informed him.

Tig swore. "Bastard. What're you thinking now?"

"Thinking we lure Kyle back to the clubhouse and remove it for him."

Tig sucked in a breath, knowing that would mean bloodshed. "Pixie needs to stay out of this. This isn't her problem and she's suffering enough, she doesn't need to see that, she can't see more pain right now."

"How? Pixie doesn't know about the plan for Kyle, but if she goes back to the clubhouse, she's gonna find out one way or another, and she'll insist she gets involved." Jax agreed with Tig, thinking about how stubborn and observant Pixie was.

"We gotta keep her away from the clubhouse, man. Shit, I wish Juice or Chibs were here. Chibs is about the only other person aside from me that can actually keep Pixie out of trouble, but I need to be there to see the plan through, I'm the enforcer around here."

"I know, I know." Jax thought for a second, thinking over Pixie's interactions with the Sons, Juice was closer than Chibs, but there'd be no way he'd be able to keep Pixie back if she caught onto what was happening. Happy came to mind, how he'd bonded with Pixie quickly, but was also able to keep up with her, forcibly carrying her if he had to get her somewhere. He took no shit from anyone and he was protective of Pixie. "I mean there's Happy, but the guy's in Tacoma, even if he broke the speed limit, there'd be no way he'd get here by nightfall."

Tig's eyes lit up, following Jax's train of thought. "Actually, Hap's in Nevada. He texted this morning."

"Call him, ask if he can come down and babysit Pixie." Jax nodded. "If he sets off now, he'd be able to get here well in advance."

"Will do, go check on Opie." Tig nodded, satisfied that there was a protection plan in place for Pixie, it hurt him to see how much pain she was going through. He headed off to a secluded patch of grass and dialed.

Happy picked up on the fourth ring. "Wassup, Killer?" His voice rasped in greeting, using the nickname he had for Tig.

"Hey, Hap, we need you man. Kyle's back in town."

"Need him to not be?"

"Nah, he's still got his reaper tat' though so we're having payback tonight."

"Fucking bastard."

"That's what I said. Pixie's going through some shit right now, she's stressed out, man, we need to keep her away from the clubhouse while this all goes down."

There was silence for a second. "What're you asking?"

"Fancy stalling Pixie and keeping her safe until we're done with Kyle?"

"You're... asking me to babysit? Are you crazy?"

"A little, but you're the only other Son who's actually been able to keep Pixie out of trouble."

"You know this is the complete opposite of my job, right?"

"Yeah, believe me, I never thought I'd be making this phone call."

"I hurt people, Killer, I don't protect them, especially not kids."  
"Well now you do, so unless you want Pixie to suffer, get your ass down here and help. You're friends with her, so take her out somewhere, just keep her away."

There was a deep sigh from the other end of the line. "You owe me."

"I'll buy you a new gun, how's that?"  
"Done. when do I need to be there?"  
"ASAP."

Instead of responding, Happy hung up, never being one for goodbyes. Tig nodded to himself, satisfied that Pixie was going to be safe with Happy. Just as Tig was putting his phone away again, it rang. Seeing the caller ID was Piney, Tig knew this couldn't be good.

"Hey, Piney."  
"Round up the guys, Clay's wanting to do the chinese takeout now."  
"Wha-, now?"

"Yeah, Chuck pissed him off with his...habit."

"Well fuck, a'ight, I'll go find them, be back soon." Tig sighed, he'd hoped that today would be peaceful, but like always, things never seemed to work out that way. He went looking for Jax, but found he wasn't in the gym and ended up running into Bobby instead. Tig let him know what was going on and the two of them decided to check the Chilli booth to let Gemma know they had to go and see if she had a better idea of where Jax was. They reached the booth where they found her and Pixie sorting out the table and heating up more food. Pixie caught Tig's eye and a happy little smile appeared before she ducked down and finished stacking the cups.

"Seen Jax?" Bobby said as they approached, Gemma looked up at them sensing the serious mood. Pixie looked up and paused, eyes scanning Tig and Bobby, trying to work out what was wrong. Tig wondered if he'd ever stop being mesmerized by Pixie's shiny hazel eyes, and the way they shone with intelligence and curiosity.

"He's with Ope, why?" Gemma replied, filling paper cartons with nachos.

"Boss wants us." Bobby admitted a little guiltily. Pixie's head snapped up and she looked at Tig with a silent question which he pretended to not see as he scanned the crowd for Jax.

Gemma scoffed with annoyance. "You've got two more hours in that booth." She pleaded with Bobby, knowing that when it came between what Clay wanted and what she wanted, she was always going to come second place.

"Sorry, mother." Tig apologised for the both of them before getting out of the situation before Pixie had the time to ask what was happening.

"Sorry." Bobby raised his hands in apology, knowing he also needed to scoot before Gemma lost her temper. The two of them made a hasty exit as Gemma hissed under her breath and Pixie took a cautious step back.

"Jesus Christ, Clay." She seethed. Pixie saw a balding short man with dark eyes and a police sheriff's uniform on, making his way over to the booth with a corn dog, he was looking at Gemma with sympathy.

"Sucks being boss, don't it?" He greeted her. Pixie picked up on the enamel name plate reading "Unser" and she realised who she was looking at.

"You know that fried shit's gonna kill you." Gemma grumbled, gesturing to his food.

"Yeah, 'cause the cancer's keeping me fit and spunky." Unser quipped back sarcastically, Pixie smiled at his comment and Unser glanced her way, glad someone appreciated his humor.

Gemma looked as though she was going to reply, then paused, eyes squinching as she focused on a brown haired slender woman with a balck tank top. Pixie followed her gaze, realising it was Tara. Tara looked as though she was enjoying herself looking around at the fundraiser, deciding what to do first as she took in her environment. Then she seemed to freeze up in shock, her stance changing to panic as she looked towards the Charming PD grill stall. There in the centre, manning the grill Pixie spotted the stalker, complete with his sunglasses. Pixie froze up too as she realised that both of her theories had been right. There was no way Tara didn't know this man, especially to elicit such a tense reaction upon seeing him, that or Tara was afraid of steak. The stalker was interacting with the other officers, like he knew them well, which meant he had to be related to them in some way, likely by job role.

"Hey, who's that guy at the guy at the grill?" Gemma suddenly asked, speaking Pixie's mind.

Unser looked over casually. "That's our new best friend, Agent Kohn. ATF."

"The fed looking into the club is grilling sausages?" Gemma asked. Pixie didn't wait for Unser's reply, instead taking off at a sprint, knowing she had to find Jax before he left with the others. She ran round the corner, catching sight of Bobby in his Elvis costume (thank god for Elvis!) who was standing with Opie, Jax and Tig outside of the other gymnasium entrance, Kyle stood next to them, looking a little uncomfortable to be surrounded by his old crew. They seemed to be talking casually, but as Pixie approached, Opie spotted her and raised an eyebrow, putting out his arm to catch her as she flew into the group.

"Jax!" Pixie gasped.

The four men looked at Pixie's wide eye's as Opie steadied her, helping her catch her breath.

"Give us a minute, Kyle, I'll catch up with you at the clubhouse, a'ight?" Jax told him, sensing that Pixie had something important.

"Sure, see ya." He nodded with a smile.

As soon as Kyle left, Pixie spoke up."PD Booth, grill. Look." Pixie said as she took a deep breath in. confused, jax took a few steps to the side so he could see round the corner and his eyes lit up with recognition as he spotted the guy who'd approached him at the hospital.

"Son of a bitch is grilling with the cops." He said in disbelief as he came back to the group. "The guy who's been stalking me. He's over there if you wanna take a look." He told the others who all peered round the corner at him.

Tig pulled some loose strands of Pixie's hair back from her face and gave her a soothing shoulder squeeze. "Good work, baby." He told her.

"Oh, so now you wanna talk to me." Pixie quipped back, a little put out that Tig had actively ignored her at the booth.

"Babe-"  
"I get it." Pixie nodded, knowing that the club business had to come first. "Jax, that's not all. His name's Agent Kohn. He's with the ATF." Pixie put in. "Also, Tara knows him, she saw him as she was walking through and the sight of him completely spooked her, looked like she was going to have a panic attack and she hurried off in the opposite direction to him."

Jax nodded, taking in the information. "You're giving Juice a run for his money, that's for sure, good job, kid."

"Just happened to be in the right place at the right time." Pixie shrugged. "I need a coffee, geez." She chuckled at her tired state.

"A'ight, keep an eye on him, text one of us if he leaves, got it?" Jax instructed her.

"Sure, whatever's going on with you guys, hope it goes well and please don't get hurt."

"We promise." Bobby put in, knowing that would soothe Pixie a little, he gave her a quick hug and followed the others who were already starting to leave. Tig blew Pixie a kiss and she gave him a small smile, frustrated that she was being left behind and in the dark.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	41. Giving Back Episode: Chapter 8

After the guys had left, Pixie had been working flat out to entertain the kids at the Elvis booth seeing as the star attraction had upped and left. Gemma wouldn't outright say she was grateful for Pixie's help, but she had to admit Pixie was hardworking and good under pressure, singing to the kids and dancing with them, then putting on little shows for the parents with their cameras at the ready. By the time the remaining two hours that the booth had to be open had passed, Pixie was sure she'd Elvis-ed every kid at the fundraiser. Opie had brought her another slushie which Pixie was very grateful for, and fussed over the Winston kids for a while until they'd decided to head off and speak to some of Kenny's classmates. Now Pixie was wiping down the tables and helping to pack away the booth as per Gemma's instructions. She came across a smear of red paint on the table where one of the kids hand touched their face paint before it was dry and proceeded to wipe it across the nearest flat surface. Pixie sighed and found some wet paper towels and got to scrubbing, trying to get the paint out of the grooves in the table. She was so focused on her task, that when a large body suddenly flopped down on one of the kiddie chairs she jumped about a foot, wide-eyed until she realised, to her utter surprise, it was Happy.

"Happy!" Pixie squealed, dropping the paper towels and throwing her arms around his neck in an excited hug, Happy stiffened for a moment, then a small smile appeared on his face and he reciprocated, wrapping his arms around Pixie and tightly holding her until she pulled back to look at him. "What're you doing back? I thought you were in Nevada?"

Happy shrugged, putting a toothpick in his mouth. "Too quiet."

"Was Juice okay?"

He nodded. "Back late tonight."

"That'll be nice, I've been missing you both." Pixie said honestly. "Clay's not here, there's just myself, Gemma and Opie here. The others went on some kind of run. Wouldn't tell me what."

"Not here for them." Happy grunted. Pixie looked up at him with confusion. "Get your things."

"Wait what? Where are we-?"

"Clubhouse, now." Happy stood up.

"Can I let Gemma know?"

"Told her already, let's go." Happy picked up Pixie's backpack, putting it on her back, then grabbing her upper arm and leading her out to the parking lot where he'd parked his bike next to Pixie's.

"Am I in trouble?" Pixie looked up at him, trying to gauge what was going on. Happy shook his head as he sat down on his bike, grabbing his helmet and giving her what he hoped was a calm smile. It seemed to settle Pixie's nerves as she suddenly leant across and booped his fuel tank, leaving a little fingerprint.

"You are now." Happy growled, pulling Pixie into a headlock. "Watch it, Pipsqueak." He growled making Pixie giggle, he released her and pushed her towards her bike.

"Alright, I get it." Pixie surrendered with a big grin on her face as she put her helmet on and started up her bike.

"Race you!" She pulled out of the lot and accelerated down the road. Happy smiled to himself and sighed. He thought this would be a pretty easy task, but he now realised that Pixie was going to be a hell of a handful. His bike roared to life and he sped out, gunning down the road, his sights set on Pixie's pink kutte. At first, he hadn't liked the fact Pixie wore pink, but he was quickly finding it useful for keeping track of her as it was so easy to spot. He also liked how it just fit her personality so well, how bubbly and sweet she was, but the reaper reminded people that she wasn't to be messed with unless they had a death wish. He caught up to her as Pixie slowed for a bend, they exchanged a glance and sped up again together, riding through Charming neck and neck until they got to the road leading to the clubhouse where Pixie accelerated past him to the bike racks. "I won!"

Happy parked up and took his helmet off as well, giving her a fist bump as a sign of congratulations. He walked over to one of the TM pickup trucks they used to transport broken-down motorcycles and Pixie followed him, pulling on his arm to get him to stop walking as they reached the truck's front.

"What's going on, Hap?" She asked him, looking up at his face in confusion.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a thick roll of dollar bills tied together with an elastic band and put it on the bonnet.

"Wow, that's a lot of cash, Hap, you'll have to keep that somewhere safe, or are you gonna spend it on something special?" She asked him, trying to work out what that had to do with him taking her away from the fundraiser. Happy looked at her for a second, and then slid the roll in her direction. "Hap?" She asked, looking for clarification.

"I want to spend it on something special." He murmured.

"Happy, there's enough there to afford a Harley, maybe even three, I don't want to take that off of you."

Happy frowned. " _Don't argue._ " He growled. 'I'm taking you shopping."

Pixie questioned whether she'd heard him right. "Hap, you know you don't have to spend money on me to spend time with me, right? We can just hang out and you can put your money towards something you really want instead."

Happy looked at her for a second before leaning forwards. "I know. I really want to do this."

"Hap-" was all Pixie could manage before Happy had grabbed her, hauling her off of the floor, tucking her under his arm as if she were a football. "Okay! I get the hint, let's go shopping, bud." Pixie said with a laugh as he began carrying her around to the passenger side. He put her down, opting to pull the set of keys out of his back pocket, unlocking the truck and opening the door for her.

"We're driving? But you hate any vehicle that isn't your bike."

Happy smirked as he walked around to his side, getting in and turning the ignition. "We'll have too many bags for the bikes."

Pixie scrambled in, buckling up in the passenger seat as Happy drove off. She expected him to drive to a high street or maybe his favourite biker apparel store, so when they drove out of Charming and eventually pulled in at a mall, Pixie was well and truly baffled. "You really thought this through, didn't you?" She grinned.

Happy grunted noncommittally and got out, waiting for her to do the same. They walked in together with Happy putting his arm around Pixie's shoulders again and she wondered whether it was a comfort thing or whether he thought she might try and make a break for it, either way, Pixie was enjoying his company. When they got inside, Pixie's anxieties started playing up at the prospect of Happy insisting on spending money on her. She absent-mindedly picked at the skin on the side of her thumb. As soon as Happy spotted what she was doing, he grabbed her wrist, pulling it up.

"Uh-uh." He growled, shaking his head.

Pixie looked down. "Sorry, old habit. I usually fiddle with something to stop me doing that but I don't have anything on me."

Happy let her wrist go, and looked at her for a second before taking off one of his rings, a thick silver skull with green gems in its eyes, and passed it to her. "Use that, lose it and I'll kill you."

Pixie smiled, grateful. "Noted. Thanks, Hap."

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie quickly realised that Happy wasn't kidding when he said he intended to spend the money on her. Pixie only had to look at something on a rack before Happy was grabbing it for her to put into the basket. Wherever she went, he was behind her, watching her carefully with a half-scowl half-smile on his face that only Happy could manage. Pixie went for the basic punk t-shirts and jeans to start off with, before Happy snapped his fingers and pointed in the direction of the skirts and dresses. She'd seen Happy do his snap and point before, so she realised that it wasn't him being aggressive, he just wanted her to look at something and didn't feel like talking. A red corduroy skirt with a thick silver zip up the front caught Pixie's eyes and she stopped to feel the fabric. Happy raised an eyebrow.

"Totally not practical for a mechanic and a Son, I know, but it is really pretty." She said to him, feeling the skirt's fabric.

He grabbed a skirt in her size and put it in the basket.

"Happy, I don't need a skirt, when would I wear one?"

"Off days." He grunted.

"Hap, when was the last time you or any Son we know had an off day? We're never off the clock."

"Parties." Happy said adamantly.

Pixie chuckled to herself. "Okay, you've got me there, pal."

A small smile appeared on Happy's face as he reached into his kutte and pulled a toothpick out to chew on. He leant across the rack and pulled off a lilac denim pinafore dress and passed it to her with a questioning eyebrow. Pixie was quickly learning how to speak Happy as a lot of what he said was nonverbal.

"You think it would look good on me?" Pixie asked. Happy snorted in response and put it in the basket which was now looking like someone's laundry hamper. Pixie guessed that that was a "yes, I do".

They walked over to the cash register pretty soon after and the guy behind the till was taken aback by Happy, even more so when Happy pulled the dollars off of his roll and handed them across. They walked out together with the large bag and Happy immediately started leading Pixie in the direction of a motorbike apparel store, it seemed like he'd remembered something so Pixie stumbled along trying to keep up with his fast pace. Once they got in, Happy was greeted by a burly man behind the cash register who seemed to recognise him.

"Hey, Hap, this your girl?" He asked him in greeting. Happy whipped around, glaring, snapping the cocktail stick between his teeth as his jaw clenched. Pixie stepped in before Happy vaulted the cash till.

"Oh no, I'm a friend of Happy's. I just moved to the area." Pixie said placing a hand on Happy's chest to push him back a little.

"Oh, well it's nice to meet you, girlie." The guy said cautiously as he sat down at his desk and hid himself behind a Harley Davidson magazine. Happy glared at him for another second and then turned his attention back to the racks.

"What happened there, Hap? You didn't like him calling me 'your girl'?" Pixie murmured as Happy found what he was looking for, a bubblegum pink Harley Davidson t-shirt with a cute skull on the front. He handed it to her, grinning.

"You're your own person. Not mine. Disrespectful." He murmured back.

Pixie smiled. "Thanks, Hap, that's really sweet." She patted his arm. "I love this t-shirt by the way. It's really me."

"Saw it a while back, thought of you." He murmured back, a small proper smile on his face, it melted Pixie's heart and she started to see the soft guy under all the gruffness.Happy had surprised Pixie with this softer side of him, and Pixie was eager to learn more about his character and encourage him to feel comfortable around her.

They paid and wandered off, ending up at a fragrance corner inside another clothing store. Pixie was looking for a similar body spray to her own, which was strawberries and vanilla, but was coming up short. She watched as Happy picked up a blue bottle and gave it a tentative sniff before putting it back on the shelf and wrinkling up his nose. "That bad, huh?" Pixie giggled.

"Can I help you, miss?" An assistant asked, she was young, probably around the same age as Pixie with blonde wavy hair which had been dip-dyed so the ends were electric blue.

"She wants strawberries." Happy grunted. The girl looked up at him, eyes wide, before she recovered and gave a charismatic smile.

"Sure, we have strawberry scents here." She pointed towards a stand and passed one over to Pixie. It smelt similar to her usual one, but had a hint of mint, which Pixie liked. Before she even had time to tell Happy, he'd already taken it out of her hands and put it in the basket, and grabbed a second for good measure. The assistant left them to it after checking out Happy, giving him a long slow glance up and down, blushing to herself and walking off. Pixie noted it and tapped him on the arm.

"That girl was totally checking you out." Pixie murmured.

Happy growled.

"No, in a good way, Happy, she likes you."

Raised eyebrow, narrowed eyes.

"I'm serious! She thinks you're hot, you should talk to her."

Happy looked at her for a second, back at the girl and shook his head.

"No? Not your type?"

"I'm not hers." Happy grunted.

"How do you know that?"

"I'm not a good guy."

"Pfft, c'mon Happy, sure, your job is a little... _violent_ , but you're a good guy."

Disbelieving snort.

"Oh sure Hap, because a soulless bad guy would go out of his way to spend time and money with a troubled kid and take her shopping. I don't believe that for a second."

Happy gave a small shrug, put his arm around Pixie and led her out of the fragrance section, Pixie didn't press him, but she certainly wasn't done with that conversation, she'd definitely be bringing it up at a later date. They found a hairbrush that Pixie liked and a couple of extra bobbles and scrunchies before Happy clicked and pointed. Pixie looked up to see him pointing towards the lingerie section.

"No way Hap. No offence but that's kinda a girls only trip."

Happy grunted, grabbed her hand and towed her towards it. "You need them." He insisted.

Pixie couldn't argue with that, she had found a pack of unused boxers in the bathroom and had been using them, so it would be nice for her to have her own set and ones that actually fit right. They started looking at bras first, and Pixie looked up at Happy, feeling slightly embarrassed and unsure of how to actually do this. Happy looked at her pleading face, rolled his eyes and put his free and across them so he couldn't see.

"I know you're just joking but that actually makes this a lot easier." Pixie giggled. She quickly grabbed what she needed and hid them under a Guns 'N' Roses band t-shirt in the basket. "Okay, you can look now."

Happy spread his fingers and peeped through them with one eye, making Pixie laugh. She caught a rumble in his chest and realised he was chuckling to himself. They walked out after paying and Pixie looked at all the bags Happy was carrying.

"Hap, why don't I take some? After all, these are all my things." Pixie asked.

Happy shook his head.

"But I bet they're getting pretty heavy." Pixie insisted.

Another adamant head shake.

Pixie bit her lip. "At least one bag?"

Happy grunted, moved all the bags into one hand, then grabbed Pixie, picking her up with his free arm, all without breaking step.

"Okay! Point proven, Mr Muscles." Pixie giggled, realising that Happy was chuckling too as he let her down again. They walked past a jewellery store and Pixie stopped to admire the collection of statement biker rings. Happy stopped too and she noted that he was staring intently at a silver ring, it was shaped like a shield with a heart in the centre with two wings coming off of it and making a point below the point of the heart. The heart also had little horns which Pixie liked. "You should get it, it's so cool." Pixie commented.

Happy shook his head and instead pointed at a thick silver chain necklace with a heart shaped lock which had been painted pastel pink.

"Oh that's so pretty!" Pixie enthused. Before she could stop him, Happy had put the bags on the floor and had already gone inside. Pixie stayed with them and he came out a second later holding a suede bag and passed it to her. Pixie opened it and found the necklace inside. She hugged Happy tightly before pulling away. "Thanks, Hap."

As they walked away, Pixie took one last look at the ring Happy seemed to love in the window and decided that they weren't going to be leaving without it. They wandered a bit more until Pixie suggested they get smoothies and sit down for a little while. Happy agreed and they found a bench to sit at that was under a huge palm tree which made a good landmark. Happy drank his mango smoothie and watched as Pixie chatted to him about her thoughts and interesting things she'd seen in the mall. Happy liked watching Pixie talk, she was always so animated no matter what she was describing and he liked her quirky way of sitting where she always had her legs up. They were either pulled up in front of her chest, or in this case, crisscrossed on the bench. Happy did not like socialising or spending time with people, in fact, he could count on one hand the people he liked being around, but with Pixie, it almost made him feel things, emotions that he'd thought he'd lost when he became Samcro's number one hit-man. He watched as Pixie suddenly stood up from the bench.

"Happy, do you trust me?" She asked him, biting her lip and twisting his ring around her thumb.

Happy raised an eyebrow and nodded cautiously.

"I've got one more thing to do before we go home, and I kinda need the money roll to do it."

Happy nodded and made to stand up, but Pixie stopped him.

"I need to do this little thing on my own, if you stay put I'll be like ten minutes?" Pixie explained, her voice raised an octave in hopeful anticipation of Happy's answer.

Happy looked up at her face, studying it, before finally nodding, handing her the money. "Be back in ten, or I'm hunting you down." He growled.

Pixie let out an excited giggle, said a quick goodbye and scampered off. Happy thought that she looked for all the world like a joyful puppy. He leant back against the bench, put a toothpick in his mouth and watched the huge gold clock that was built into the wall above the mall's entrance.

☠️☠️☠️

At around the ten minute mark, Happy heard the familiar fast-paced trot of Pixie's purple boots on the stone floor and looked across to see her coming his way, she ran up to him brandishing a brown paper bag that had been rolled over at the top to keep it's content's safely inside. She held it out to him like a golden retriever with a stick and Happy felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He raised an eyebrow.

"For you." She smiled.

Happy took the bag off of her, confusion on his face as he unrolled the bag and reached inside.

"They're just some little gifts from me to say thanks for today. I know you technically paid for them, but it's the thought that counts." Pixie said, her nerves flaring, wondering how Happy would take his gifts. She twirled the skull ring around on her finger as he reached inside and pulled out a small plush white bulldog. "I remember you said you liked dogs, so now you have a little friend." Pixie explained. Happy set the dog on the bench gently and gave it a little pat to its head which Pixie found adorably endearing. Next, he pulled out a metal key chain with an enamel smiley face charm which made Happy smile. "For your keys, that way everyone knows they're yours." Pixie grinned excitedly. Happy tucked it gently into his kutte pocket so he wouldn't lose it and reached for the last item, he looked at the black suede bag with a puzzled expression for a second and then looked up at Pixie, startled as he opened the bag and pulled out the ring he'd fallen for at the jewellery store. "It was the same size as the ring you gave me to hold, so obviously it was meant to be." Pixie explained, biting her lip.

"Thank you." Happy said gruffly as he put it on his free finger. He glanced at Pixie and she spotted a sparkle in his dark brown eyes for the first time. She leant forwards and put her arms around Happy.

"You're welcome, thanks for making today so fun, you're the best." Pixie murmured, she felt Happy shrug underneath her touch.

"You made it fun." Happy grunted, gently pushing her off of him. "Let's go get some food, I'm in the mood for burgers."

"I think that's the longest sentence you've said all day." Pixie joked, laughing when Happy playfully shoved her. He grabbed the bags and tucked the plush dog into one of them and they strode out to the truck. Pixie helped him load the bags into the back and they moved to get in. "You know I love you, man." Pixie smiled up at him.

Happy grunted. "No you don't, you love Tig." he said looking over at her, he shoved his hands deeper into the pocket of his jeans.

"Yeah, I do like Tig," Pixie said grabbing Happy's forearm to get him to stop walking and look at her. "But it doesn't stop me from loving you, you're my friend and my brother, I love and care about you, that's why I want to see you smile and laugh more." Pixie explained.

Happy froze up for a second with a strange expression on his face like he was overwhelmed by so many different emotions all at once.

"Happy? You okay?" Pixie said, checking in with him.

"Yeah. No one's ever said that to me before." He said gruffly. Before Pixie had time to react, Happy grabbed her around her torso and hauled her up into his arms in a tight hug. Pixie wrapped her arms and legs around him too, letting him take comfort in her. After a moment he gently set her down and motioned for her to get in. They set off and Happy turned on the radio on a low volume. It was tuned to a classic rock station, as per the Sons and Pixie realised ACDC were playing.

"Hey it's Shoot to Thrill." Pixie leant forwards and turned the volume up, and then began dancing to the guitar intro, singing along to the lyrics and pretending to strum a guitar. Happy watched her out of his peripheral and felt his mouth curve into a smile Pixie's playful behaviour. In truth, he loved ACDC and it made him happy to see Pixie enjoyed them so much too. Pixie noticed Happy tapping the steering wheel in time with the beat and had an idea. She leant over and gently patted his thigh. "C'mon, get that leg moving, actually feel the beat. You can't not dance to ACDC."

"Driving." Happy looked over at her.

"Yeah, so don't go ham, but jam to the music, let yourself feel something."

Happy sighed and tapped his leg to the beat to appease Pixie, but after a moment, he found his mood lifting a little and began to nod his head too.

"There you go, mate! How does this song make you feel?" Pixie enthused as drummed the beat on the dashboard, Happy shrugged a response. "Nah, you can't possibly feel nonchalant, give me a word."

Happy thought for a second. "Good."

"That's great! I'm feeling good too." Pixie giggled as she sang the chorus and rocked out next to him.

"You're hyper." Happy chuckled.

"And how does _that_ make you feel?" Pixie joked as she rolled down the window so she could put her hand out to feel the wind.

"Entertained." He said honestly, finding it funny how Pixie just seemed to embrace life full force.

"Glad I could be of service." Pixie quipped as the song ended. "Where are we going for food?"

"Drive thru. Then somewhere where you can burn off your energy. I need a nap just watching you." Happy explained, feeling himself open up a little more. Pixie made him want to actually hold a conversation instead of just observing.

"Coolio. Any idea what the others are doing?"

"Nope."

"If you did, you wouldn't tell me. They wanna keep me out of it." Pixie said a little frustratedly as she turned away from the passenger window to look out the windscreen, biting her lip and reaching to pull at her thumb again.

Happy smacked her knee. " _Enough_. They're doing this to keep you safe. All I know is that they're dealing with Kyle."

"Dealing as in killing?" Pixie looked at Happy wide-eyed.

"No, I wouldn't be here if they were. They're clearing the air and dealing with old business." Happy explained, trying to think of the best way to phrase it without explaining gory details, something he never thought he'd have to do.

Pixie nodded, calmer. "Okay."

Happy looked at her, seeing her turning the ring around her fingers again. "What's up?"

"I'm just trying to adjust. I went from being at the centre of every decision, plan and deal, to suddenly being an outsider on a need to know basis. It's just got me a little wound up."

Happy scrambled to think of something to make her feel better. It bothered him more than he thought it would, seeing Pixie so wound up. Tig was right, there was a lot of pain just underneath her bubbly exterior. "Give it time, once you're patched, you'll be in it more. Meantime, focus on healing."

"Yeah, thanks, Hap.I guess the one good thing about being on the fringe is that I get to do fun shit like this, especially with you."

Happy smiled, glad Pixie was calming down, and the compliment didn't go amiss. "I don't get to know a lot of stuff with the Charming brothers, I get a seat at the table when it's necessary, so I think I understand."

Pixie's eyes lit up as Happy opened up to her a little more. "Right? They just start going off and causing hassle without thinking it through, leaving the rest of us hurrying to catch up before they do something stupid."

Happy nodded. "Jax and the Mayans."

"Yeah!" Pixie agreed, then realised that Happy hadn't been there for her talk with Jax. "Wait, where's your head at with that?"  
"Wasn't a territory thing, they were mad as hell. He provoked them."

"How'd you figure that?"  
"Behaviour, you spend a lot of time on the road and you learn a few things about biker etiquette."

Pixie giggled at hearing 'etiquette' come out of Happy's mouth. "You're a lot smarter than the others realise."

"You knew too." He looked at Pixie, her face confirming his suspicions. "Saw Jax haul you behind the clubhouse."

"Yeah, I kinda figured it out the second I saw how they were relentlessly pursuing Jax, not just pushing him back over to his side."

"Smart and observant." Happy nodded, feeling a small sense of pride over Pixie.

"Thanks, you are too." Pixie smiled over at him as he pulled into a drive thru. They placed their orders and Happy watched Pixie dance to the radio until it was time to get the order. He then took them to a local park which had a large wooden jungle gym and a couple of park benches. It was just going dark, but the park was well lit by white security lights so as soon as Happy parked up, he got out and led Pixie to one of the benches and set the food out on the table for Pixie to choose what she wanted. She started up another conversation, telling him about the fun things she used to do in Highton whilst Happy listened to her animated chatter, he felt comfortable like this and loved how Pixie just overflowed with life.

"What were your favourite toys growing up as a kid?" Pixie suddenly asked him, as she took a handful of fries.

Happy thought for a second, surprised that she wanted to know. "Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle, took that thing everywhere. Had a Weebles Haunted House playset too."

Pixie giggled, trying to imagine a child version of Happy. "The stunt cycle's a given, but why the house?"

Happy shrugged. "The idea of death and halloween intrigued me. That and you could throw the Weebles."

Pixie laughed, imagining a baby Happy throwing Weebles around as weapons. "Hap, I don't think you were supposed to throw Weebles, that's Weeble abuse."

It was Happy's turn to laugh properly for the first time. "What, you gonna report me to the Weeble police?"

"Hell yeah, I had a Weebles police van actually and a couple of other sets as a kid too, so I'm a strong advocate for Weeble rights." Pixie continued the banter.

Happy grinned and shook his head. "You're a Weeble."

"If I'm a Weeble, then you're a Weeble too. Weebles of Anarchy." Pixie fired back, laughing.

Happy almost choked on his root beer, chuckling. "Go and lose some energy whilst I finish eating."

Pixie got off the bench and ran towards the jungle gym, hurdling the low wooden fence to keep small children contained. Happy watched her as she went to the swing set first and got on, standing up on the seat and swinging that way before suddenly scaling the chain and pulling up and onto the top bar. She then hooked her legs over it and tipped upside down in between the two swings, grabbing the chains on either side of her, she held onto them and swung her legs out, doing a front flip and landing on the bark chip flooring before running off and climbing up the fireman's pole to the lookout tower where she gave him a silly wave. Happy reciprocated and watched her tuck and roll across the bridge, then go down to the ground via the monkey bars.

"Come join me!" Pixie called over as she came to the fence. Happy looked at her for a second, if it was anyone else, he would've said no. but Pixie had an effect on him where he just wanted to make her smile as much as she wanted to do the same for him. He was usually so closed off from everyone, but Pixie had wriggled through a chink in his armour, and he found himself standing up, taking a last swig of his drink and then jogging over to the fence. Pixie did her adorable little jump of excitement and ran back to the jungle gym, eager to see what he'd do first. He jumped the fence and was unsure of what to do first, so went to sit on the swings, thinking maybe Pixie just wanted him closer to her. He was wrong however, as soon as he headed in that direction, she grabbed his hand and towed him to the monkey bars. "You're not sitting out on me, let loose, have fun! See if you can climb these."

Happy grunted, rolled his eyes and went roughly half way where the rings were actually higher than his head, he lifted himself up and climbed the rest of the way, reaching the platform and climbing onto that so he could sit up there. He motioned for Pixie to come up too, she followed suit and he grabbed her, hauling her up onto the platform where she sat cross legged next to him.

"Look at the stars." Pixie leant forwards a little so she could see the sky a little clearer and Happy's hand went to her arm, suddenly feeling protective of the fact she was so close to the edge and didn't want her falling. "How do you feel when you look at the stars, Hap?"

"Defiant." Happy said after a moment. "I defy you, stars." Happy quoted, surprising Pixie.

"Shakespeare? I like that. The stars don't choose your destiny, you do."

Happy nodded, liking how Pixie was on the same page as him. "Exactly."

"The stars make me feel calm, kinda like they're watching over us. Ancient cosmic beings watching the chaos unfold on this little planet. I'm a big believer in being in charge of your own life's path, regardless of how people might try to control you or influence it. I resist authority a lot because I can feel people trying to push me into line, into doing what _they_ want me to do, regardless of whether it's the best thing for me or not."

Happy smiled. "Little anarchist."

"Yeah." Pixie laughed before letting a small yawn out which Happy spotted. Pixie was tired and she'd be wanting to head back to the clubhouse soon, Happy thought. He hoped he'd been able to stall for long enough, it was properly nightfall now.

"C'mon little maniac, let's go home."

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

Here's a pic for anyone who doesn't know what Weebles are!


	42. Giving Back Episode: Chapter 9

Happy pulled into the clubhouse lot and spotted that the garage lights were on and the group's bikes were all sat at the racks. Sensing that the revenge plan may still be in action, he pulled up close to the clubhouse.

"Go inside, I'll handle the bags." He told Pixie, who nodded without argument, sensing the seriousness in Happy's voice. She trotted off and he noticed her limp again, she'd been on her feet pretty much all day he realised. Happy decided he had to try and get her to relax hoping that way she'd settle down and not worry about the others, or try to continue pushing her body past its limits. He spotted the Sons black van further up the lot which was dented at the front and there were bullet holes in the windscreen. He shook his head and went back for the bags, silently patting himself on the back for not pulling up alongside it. Happy took the bags inside and then locked the clubhouse door behind him. Pixie had put out a beer for him and insisted on helping him with the bags, they put them down in her room and he clicked and pointed at her leg.

"Get changed and take your leg off, kid. You're hurting."

Pixie nodded. "Are you gonna stay?"

"Until I know you're safe and the others have finished."

"Thanks, I'll be out in a bit." Pixie smiled.

Happy nodded, satisfied and turned to leave, he reached the door, then looked back. "Leave the bags 'til tomorrow, you're too tired to unpack."

Pixie, who was currently leaning over them, put her hands up in surrender. "You know me too well." She picked up the plush dog for Happy and tossed it to him. "Here."

Happy smiled down at the little toy and tucked it into his pocket. "Thanks." He shut the door behind him and moved to the sofas, grabbing the beer on the way and turning on the stereo to a low volume. His duffel bag was still on the floor from where he'd rushed in, dumped it, grabbed the truck's keys and rushed out to find Pixie. He flopped down onto the couch and unzipped the bag, searching for his black sketch book, taking out his denim jacket and tossing it on the floor as he looked for the little book. He spotted the blue cover and tugged it out, feeling compelled to draw. He took a pencil from his kutte and began to sketch out roughly what he was seeing in his mind. Eventually Pixie appeared from her room in a hoodie and sweatpants, hair braided and looking significantly more relaxed. She'd taken off her prosthetic as instructed and hopped over to where Happy was chilling on the couch and leant over the back so she could see what he was up to.

"That's really good Happy!" She enthused, he'd drawn a little fairy kid with beautiful wings and flowing dark hair. She was seated on a tree branch, her dress torn and there was a look of mischief and stubbornness on her face.

"It's how I see you." Happy said as he finished it off, writing "Little Maniac" just under it.

"I love it." Pixie giggled. "If you want, I could show you my sketchbook? It's got the concept art for my tattoos in it.

Happy perked up immediately at the mention of tattoos and nodded intrigued. Pixie dashed off back to her room and reappeared with her beaten up sketchpad. She leant over the back of the sofa to give it to him, and instead, Happy reached up and pulled her over the back of the couch to get her to come and sit. Pixie giggled as she came to rest with her back against Happy's side, he put his arm around her and took the sketchbook from her, trading it for his so he could have a look at her drawings. To say Happy was impressed, would be an understatement. He could see the hours of painstaking detail Pixie had put into every one of her drawings and he chuckled at the crow with the crossed eyes. He turned a couple of pages and found a sketch of a 1985 Harley-Davidson FXSB Lowrider with the name "Bruce" written underneath in cursive.

"This your dad's?" He asked her. Pixie looked over her shoulder at the sketch.

"Yeah, it's a memorial tattoo I'm thinking of getting at some point. That bike was his pride and joy."

"I'll do it for you."

Pixie hugged his arm tighter around her. "Thanks, you're a good brother."

"You're a maniac of a littler sister." Happy growled to make her laugh. "But you're good too."

"I love your sketches." Pixie commented as she flipped to a page of little doodles. "I like this one of the reaper drinking vodka." Pixie laughed.

"Figured he's got to have developed a drinking habit to keep up with the hell we raise."

"I like that, giving death a run for his money. Story of my life."

"Explain." Happy asked, tugging one of Pixie's braids. Pixie told him about her run ins with death, and how Tig had likened her to a cat with six lives left. Happy chuckled at that taking his book back and giving Pixie hers. "I think you've just been stubborn as hell since day one." Happy concluded.

Pixie giggled. "Too stubborn for death sounds about right somehow." She reached across and took Happy's pencil off of him. "Hang on, I wanna draw you something." She told him. Happy settled back into the sofa more, putting his boots up on the coffee table and finished his beer. Whilst Pixie worked on her drawing, he zoned out, thinking over the day and smiling to himself. When he'd gotten the call from Tig, asking him to babysit Pixie, he'd been unsure if he'd actually be able to go through with it. He usually avoided people being introverted at heart. He'd never really been around young adults much, so Pixie was a complete enigma to him. She'd surprised him in the ring with Jax on her first day, he'd seen her sweet little face and how small she was and figured there was no way she'd possibly be able to even survive a hit from Jax. He'd quickly learnt to never underestimate Pixie as she'd sent Jax to the floor with a bloodlust look in her eyes and her jaw set in dark determination. And then, once the battle was over, threat annihilated, she'd gone back to being hyper, like a playful puppy doing what it had to survive. The more he got to know Pixie, the more she'd felt like family to him.

"Hey, Hap? You in there?" Pixie's voice cut through his thoughts as she tapped his temple with the pencil. He took it off of her as well as the sketchbook she offered him and he stared down at the sketch of a grizzly bear, mid roar. "That's what you remind me of."

"A bear?" He asked her.

"Yeah, grizzly bears are mainly solitary bears, but are protective of family, especially cubs, they're really smart too, and aren't actually as violent as some people think, you just have to learn how to read their body language."

Happy was silent for a second, surprised by the accuracy to him, and also how deeply Pixie actually understood him.

"I like it." Happy smiled, hugging Pixie to him for a second.

"Yay. Why don't we both doodle for a bit?" Pixie suggested. Happy nodded and rooted around his pockets, finding another pencil he had stashed away. He gave Pixie her book back and they set to work.

At first, Pixie chatted to him about little things on her mind, with Happy adding his input if required, but after a bit, they fell into comfortable silence, sketching away and idly listening to the music. As Happy was sketching a picture of a demon, he gradually felt Pixie's muscles become lax and relaxed, until all of a sudden, her head dropped to the side and her left hand dropped the pencil as her fingers uncurled. Happy froze, realising Pixie had fallen asleep on him and tried to work out what to do. His first instinct was to wake her up and make her go to bed, but that felt wrong somehow, he felt she needed comfort from the people she trusted right now, and he was one of them. He tossed his sketchbook and hers onto the coffee table gently so they wouldn't make too much of a noise, then he carefully readjusted himself so he could bring Pixie into his lap. He rested her head on his chest and slouched down a little so she'd be more comfortable, then wrapped his arms around her to make sure she was as safe as possible. After a moment, Pixie wriggled a little and her hand gently grasped his, holding onto it gently for security. Happy looked down at this kid in his lap, completely safe and comfortable with him and was taken over by an overwhelming sense of protectiveness and devotion. Pixie had been nothing but kind and compassionate to him, taking a genuine interest in him and breaking down his walls to reach him. No one had ever done this before, they'd taken him for face value and never looked into the fact that he never expressed emotion or talked about how he felt until Pixie. No one had ever purposely gone out of their way to check in with him, to make him smile and to challenge his gruffness. It was at this moment that Happy felt familial love towards Pixie, she was now his little sister, and he'd do anything to protect her.

☠️☠️☠️

Jax parked up the van after dumping Kyle at the hospital and looked over to Tig who sat silently staring out the windscreen, he hadn't moved since he'd jumped back in and Jax had driven off, watching April lose it over Kyle's burnt and unconscious body.

"Yo, you still with me?" Jax said gently, tapping Tig's arm. Tig lurched to life, looking around him as he came out of his daze.

"Yeah, yeah." He mumbled noncommittally.

"I know how this stuff gets to you, take tomorrow off, man. Take Pixie out somewhere and focus on getting through this." Jax said softly as Tig scrubbed his face.

"Yeah, I just can't stop hearing his screams, man."

"Me neither. C'mon, least you can cuddle up with your girl tonight, I got a date with a bottle of tequila. Figure that if it can send Juice, the biggest worrier I know, into a state of unconscious euphoria, it should do the same for me."

Tig chuckled half-heartedly. "Only other person who worries more than Juice is Pixie, and that chick's stone cold sober. Dunno how she does it."

"She just stabs things instead, we all have our vices." Jax tried to make Tig smile. He succeeded in getting half-smile and counted that as a win. They got out and headed over to the clubhouse, finding the door locked. Jax used his keys and the two weary bikers trudged into their safe haven. They spotted Happy on the plaid couch, he was staring down at Pixie with affection in his eyes and a smile as he watched her sleep cuddled up in his lap. He looked up as Jax and Tig approached, and motioned for them to be quiet.

"She tap out on you?" Jax asked, feeling his heart melt a little at how sweet Pixie looked when she was sleeping, so calm and small. It almost seemed unreal that such a small being could cause so much trouble and mayhem.

"'Bout an hour ago. Didn't want to move her." Happy murmured. "Go shower, the pair of you smell burnt."

"Good point, don't want Pixie freaking." Jax nodded to Tig who took a step back. He really needed to have Pixie in his arms, craved it, just to feel like less of a monster, but he knew Pixie's observant personality well. She'd pick up on what he'd done immediately if he got too close whilst he still had his current clothes on. He sighed and went to Pixie's room, switching on the light. He spotted all the shopping bags on the floor and was taken aback. He checked through them, realising they were all things for Pixie, which surprised him further. Happy was usually cheap as hell, rarely spending money unless he absolutely had to or unless he really, really wanted something. Tig bookmarked enquiring about it for later and headed to the bathroom and started up the shower then going to stand in front of the mirror above the basin so he could read the little post-it note Pixie had put up there when she first moved in. it read: "fate whispers to the warrior, 'you cannot withstand the storm', and the warrior whispers back 'I am the storm'". Tig liked how accurate it was to Pixie and he found it soothing as well. He caught his tired eyes and haggard expression in the mirror and frowned, wondering what Pixie saw in him, especially in times like this. He'd been the one to blowtorch Kyle's tattoo off as a lesson to him to A) not mess with the club, and B) do what the club orders, such as removing the reaper, or face the consequences. People often thought Tig liked hurting people, killing people and being violent. Sure, he found solace in the chaos, but that shit was never, ever easy. He put on a smile and did what he had to do in order to protect his brothers, and to make sure they weren't the ones hearing the screams at night and smelling the blood, long after he'd cleansed himself of it. He uneasily looked away from his face and focused on taking off his rings, one by one, setting them down on the counter and then beginning to undress. He stepped under the stream of hot water and stood there for a moment, focusing on how it felt and feeling his muscles begin to untense. He thought of how sweet and peaceful Pixie looked, tucked in Happy's arms and used that to get himself moving, scrubbing his skin with the soap and sponge, making sure he got all the scent of burnt flesh off of him, then rinsing his hair with the shampoo, working it through his curls, and focusing on keeping his breathing even. Once Tig was satisfied that all he could smell was soap and pine needles, he towelled off and found a pair of sweatpants, pulling them on and then tucked the duvet back so it would be easier to tuck Pixie into bed. Tig then walked out into the main room. Jax was nowhere in sight and guessed he'd headed off to his room, so Tig went to the couch, flopping down on it next to Happy.

"Hap, I said babysit, not blow a whole year's wage." He murmured.

Happy shrugged. "She needed it."

"Did Pixie have a good time today?"

"Yeah, hyper as hell. Took her to a playground just so she could burn some energy off so she'd sleep." Happy motioned to Pixie's sleeping form. "You're welcome."

Tig smiled and gently stroked Pixie's cheek. "She open up about anything?"  
"She's angry that she's on the outside of club business, doesn't feel trusted. She's anxious too."

Tig sucked in a breath and stroked his chin. "Did she at least see that it was for her own safety?"  
"Duh, Pixie's smart." Happy grumbled.

"Ain't that the truth." Tig smiled affectionately at Pixie. "I'd better take her to bed, otherwise you're gonna be stuck all night." Happy nodded, giving Pixie one last gentle hug before he hooked one arm under her legs and the other around her back, lifting her up so Tig could easily take Pixie into his arms without jostling her. "Thanks for keeping her safe, Happy. I owe you, brother."  
"Nah. It was fun." Happy shrugged as he grabbed his bag, and packed away his things, he picked up his sketchbook and tore out the sketch of Pixie as a pixie and passed it over to Tig. "Give this to her." He nodded, taking Pixie's book and tearing out the grizzly bear, knowing Pixie wouldn't mind.

"Will do, where are you gonna crash tonight?"

"Motel."

Tig nodded, knowing that meant Happy was planning on hitting the road again. "Safe travels, brother."

Happy nodded, hiking his bag onto his bag. "See you around, killer." he headed out the door, locking it with his key behind him and stalking off to his bike. Tig watched him go and then carried Pixie into the bedroom, gently setting her down, making sure her head was nestled on the pillow. Pixie stirred, brow furrowing as she sensed the change. Half-asleep, she opened one eye.

"Tiggy?" Her voice was slurred with sleep and the little groan softened Tig's heart.

"Right here, baby. Can I stay with you tonight? I really need to hold you."

Pixie nodded, reaching for him, already settling off to sleep again. "Wuvnu." She mumbled as he climbed in behind her, Tig froze, wondering if he'd heard right. He settled himself down on his side and tucked the duvet over them before gently pulling Pixie up against him so he could cradle her. Tig realised that even if he had misheard Pixie, it still didn't change the way he felt about her.

"I love you too, baby girl." He murmured softly to her, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck and just inhaled her scent, feeling the wave of calmness wash over him as he slowly drifted off.

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie's eyes snapped open as the sound of a truck's engine rumble cut through the silence as it slowly came down the road and pulled into the lot. The headlights briefly shone through the window and disappeared again as it drove towards the garage side of the lot. Pixie couldn't recall being told about a late night delivery and alarm bells sounded in her head. Tig was completely fast asleep next to her, arms tangled loosely around her, he looked so peaceful and Pixie felt guilty about rousing him, especially if it turned out the truck was a false alarm. Pixie gently wriggled free and decided to investigate first, and if she didn't like what was going on, she'd wake up Tig and Jax. She slipped on her prosthetic and grabbed one of her throwing knives before walking out into the main room and grabbing one of the metal baseball bats that hung on the wrack, probably for this exact reason. She then flipped the hallway light on, which couldn't directly be seen from the clubhouse doors and waited. Sure enough, she heard muffled voices approach the door as she hid in the shadows and waited. A key turned in the lock and Pixie moved forwards putting the knife down, realising that it was more likely a friend than a foe, and wondered who the asshole was who thought three in the morning would be a good time to drop in at the clubhouse. The door opened and she heard Juice's voice in the dark.

"You can crash here tonight, spare sheets are in the utility room." He said to someone over his shoulder.

"Juice?!" Pixie squealed as she flipped the light switch, dropping the bat and running at him for a hug. Juice, who was completely surprised by the fact anyone was awake at this hour had about a half-second to drop his bag before Pixie barrelled into him like an over-excited Labrador. He grabbed her as she jumped on him, staggered back, tripped on the bag and fell over backwards, managing to brace Pixie in his arms at the last moment so he'd take the brunt of the impact. They landed, knocking the wind out of Juice, which didn't help as he was laughing too hard to catch his breath as it was, with Pixie giggling hysterically on top of him.

"Well hello to you too." He wheezed. "God, I've missed you."

"Missed you too, brother." Pixie beamed up at him as Juice managed to get himself up into a seating position with Pixie cradled in his arms still.

Tig stormed into the main room, ready to kill whatever caused the commotion and found Pixie and Juice in a heap on the floor with a girl awkwardly standing in the doorway. "What the hell's going on in here?" He asked, hands on hips.

"Juice is back!" Pixie exclaimed. "And he brought Cherry. Hi, by the way." Pixie acknowledged her. "You can crash here if you want, sofas are comfy, I was asleep on one earlier."

Cherry smiled down at Pixie gratefully. "That would be amazing, thank you."  
"She can't stay here." Tig strode forwards, pulling Pixie up off of the floor so Juice could stand up.

"And why's that?" Pixie turned to him.

"Because she slept with Clay and there's a rule that if you tap anything on the road, it stays on the road. It doesn't come home with you."

Pixie raised an eyebrow and Tig automatically took a step back. He knew he was intimidating when he got going, but Pixie had a way of arching her eyebrow and fixing you with those sparkly hazel eyes in such a way that it made your blood run cold.

"Okay, first of all, ew. That's a disgusting, archaic rule that I hope to god you don't follow, Trager. I don't share, so add that to your rule book or we're gonna have a problem. Second of all, sweetbutt or not, women are not 'it' or 'things'. They are people, not objects for you to 'tap' at your own pleasure because you had to go on a run. And lastly, Clay should've thought about that before he decided to pursue Cherry, but once again, he thought with his other head. It is currently, what, three in the morning? And you expect Cherry, a sweet young woman, to just waltz off into a dark neighbourhood that she doesn't know looking for another place to stay? That's stupid and unsafe. She's staying, she can sleep in my room if you're that concerned about Clay losing his mind over the fact that women can go wherever they please, regardless of what he wants." Pixie concluded sternly and sassily. Behind her Juice had his mouth open in a wide shocked grin at the tirade that Pixie had just unleashed.

Tig was at a loss for words, scrambling to find a foot to stand on, but concluded with the fact that he needed to get back into Pixie's good books and fast. "Fine. She stays, but she has to keep away from Gemma and Clay."  
"Done and done. I'm not here for them." Cherry put in, thoroughly impressed by how Pixie was handling the situation.

"Aw! Are you here for H?" Pixie asked.

"Kip? Yeah. I think he's the one I wanna be with."

"That's so romantic! He's a really sweet well-meaning guy." Pixie enthused before turning back to Tig. "You didn't answer me about where you want Cherry to sleep, here or my room."

Tig gave up, knowing there was no way he was winning against Pixie. "Couch. I'll get the sheets." He grunted stalking off to the utility room.

"And a spare pair of pyjamas." Pixie called after him.

"Those too." he grunted.

"Cherry, you got a toothbrush?"

"Oh, yeah, it fit in my purse so I brought it along."

"That's good." Pixie nodded. Juice walked over to her and shook his head, grinning.

"You have Tig completely whipped, I mean, I've never seen him back down so fast before." He laughed.

Pixie smiled. "I didn't like what he said, so of course I'm gonna answer back."

"Thanks for sticking up for me, that usually doesn't happen." Cherry smiled as she took a seat on the couch.

"Well, get used to it, whilst you're here, if you feel unsafe or someone comes at you, let me know and I'll step in. Just because we're Sons, doesn't mean we have like freaking neanderthals."

Cherry grinned. "I really like you, Pixie."

Pixie smiled back and did a little jump of excitement. "I really like you too, we should hang out sometime, I'm always up for making new friends."  
Cherry nodded as Tig came back with a pile of sheets, a hoodie and jogging bottoms, passing them to Cherry.

"Thanks, Tiggy." Pixie nodded, reaching up and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Okay, I think now everyone's settled, we should probably all go to bed, hell knows what tomorrow's gonna bring."

Juice nodded. "Think I might crash here tonight too. I'm basically asleep on my feet. I'll take the other couch."

"Good decision, I don't want you getting hurt." Pixie patted him on the arm. "estúpido bebé."

Juice groaned. "For fuck's sake I thought we squashed that."

"Nah, it bugs you, so of course I'm gonna call you it." Pixie giggled, Juice made a grab for her and Pixie dodged, squealing and running from him whilst Tig wondered how the hell he was going to get Pixie back to sleep, and how Jax was able to sleep through everything. Dude had probably followed through with his plan to drown his sorrows in tequila. Hell, Tig thought he could probably do with a few shots himself because he sure would need liquid courage when explaining to Clay why Cherry was sleeping in pride of place in the clubhouse. A motorcycle engine suddenly cut through the din and everyone froze to look as a bike drove by, parking up in the dark lot. Then, after a second, a familiar face appeared at the door.

"Lassie!" He proclaimed, opening his arms wide as Pixie launched herself at him with an excited yip.

"Chibbie!" She cheered. Chibs managed to do a better job of catching her than Juice, bracing himself and dropping his bag at the right moment to then grab Pixie as she flew into him. He supported her legs, carrying her further into the clubhouse as Tig and Juice came to greet him too. "Mind explaining to me wha' yer doing up at three in the fekin' mornin'?" He chided Pixie as he set her down.

Pixie looked around her and the back at Chibs. "Apparently, having an impromptu family meeting."

Chibs chuckled. "I can see that. I saw lights on on the way past and decided to drop in, make sure everythin' was okay."  
"All good here, Juice is staying the night, so's Cherry." Pixie replied. "Oh, by the way, Cherry, this is Chibs, he's a bit grouchy, but full of love." Pixie explained, turning to Cherry.

Chibs cuffed Pixie playfully. "It's been five minutes and you're already givin' me cheek." He chuckled.

"I spoke the truth." Pixie giggled. "Are you gonna stay? There's another couch free?"

"May as well. Probably get about five hours rest before I need to report to Clay."

"Yay!" Pixie enthused. "I'll get you sheets." Pixie scooted off.

"How's she been?" Chibs raised an eyebrow, eyeing Tig and Juice who exchanged a glance.

Pixie reached up and grabbed a blanket and almost jumped out of her skin as " _She did wha'_?" Exploded from the main room. Pixie winced and guessed the guys had told Chibs about her adventures and she wondered which one had got him going, the incident with Hale, the amputee prank, the Mayans at the gas station, the Mayans vs the truck or maybe a combination of all of the above. She gathered the rest of the blankets Chibs would need and cautiously walked back out to the main room where Chibs was standing with a finger and thumb pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Got your blankets." Pixie offered.

"I leave ya' for fekin' week an' ya' manage to have three incidents?"

"Wait three? Which ones did you tell him?" Pixie asked looking to Tig and Juice.

" _Which ones_? There's more?" Chibs asked in disbelief. "Start listing, lassie."

"We told him about your prosthetic prank and two incidents with the truck." Juice stage whispered.

Pixie sucked in a breath and put down the blankets onto the bar. "Okay, okay, sit down before you burst an artery." Pixie put her hands up in surrender as Chibs did a double take at Pixie's wrist, seeing the fresh tattoo of Happy's famous smiley face.

"When did tha' happen? I need a fuckin' drink." He chuckled still in disbelief at the prospect of Pixie managing to get herself into over three incidents in the space of a week. Juice got a bottle of whiskey for him and he took a swig from the bottle sitting down on a bar stool.

"Okay, so I guess the first incident is the tattoo, Happy wanted to use the clown kill to add to his collection, but I argued we killed the asshole together, so we should both get the tattoo. I was half-joking but Happy liked the idea, so... bam." Pixie said gesturing to the smiley face. "You were there for when I drugged the cops, so that doesn't count, but I did straight up lie to Hale when he came snooping." Pixie admitted.

"Tell him what you said your name was." Tig prompted, already chuckling at the memory.

Pixie smirked, remembering. "Fu Kaiou."

Chibs choked on his mouthful of whiskey, eventually managing to swallow so he could let out a laugh. "I don't believe you, lass. How did he not arrest you?"

Pixie explained about the encounter and the vague description that the cops had managed to put together. "He had nothing, so I gave him nothing. He knew I was bluffing but couldn't call me on it."

Chibs shook his head. "Okay, guess that's not too bad, next one?"

"I did some club business, clipped a truck with Juice and Tig form Unser's lot. Tig got bit in the ass because Juice fed the guard dog crack. Don't worry, I stitched Tig up and everyone's cool now."

Chibs had to take a moment to process the information. "Okay, I have questions."

Juice decided to do Pixie a solid and explained the miscommunication or lack thereof between himself and Tig which had caused it.

"I then had a bit of a scuffle with some Mayans at a gas station." Pixie then continued.

"Tell Chibs, why." Tig promoted, knowing Pixie was trying to water down the details.

"Kinda ended up on a Mayan shit list within my first couple of hours being in Nevada, way back when I first arrived. They tried to force themselves on me at the side of the road and I forcibly declined." Pixie explained, following up with the details and the gas station incident. Chibs felt a mixture of anger at the Mayans for doing that to his kid, frustration at the fact Pixie hadn't told him about it and protectiveness at the fact Pixie was now on both the IRA _and_ the Mayan shit list.

"For Christ's sake, Pixie."

"It's not over." Juice put in.

"Oh no, what else?" Chibs rubbed his temples.

"Lastly, I ended a Mayan stand off after they chased Jack back to the Nevada clubhouse. When they all stopped on the road outside to shoot holes in the Sons and the clubhouse, I snagged the keys off of Tig and used the truck to maniacally drive at the Mayans, basically making them move away unless they wanted to be roadkill. Oh, and I also shot one in the hand whilst driving as he was gonna hit Jury."

"Shit. I mean, well done for thinking under pressure, but also, _are you crazy?_ " Chibs ended in yelling. He didn't know whether he was coming or going at this point.

"Sorry." Pixie winced. "Guess I'm more of a hassle than you thought, huh?"

Chibs took a deep breath in and out, knowing yelling was never going to be productive with Pixie, it only made him feel a little calmer. "What's done is done, lass. It just means I'm going to have to keep a closer eye on you in future. Which reminds me." He turned to Tig and Juice. "And just where the fuck were you bastards in all of this?"  
"Trying to keep up with Pixie, it's hard as hell." Juice laughed.

"Amen to that." Tig agreed wholeheartedly.

Chibs couldn't help but chuckle exasperatedly. He leant forwards and pulled Pixie to him in a hug. "Even though your antics are driving me insane, I don't love you any less, okay? I will always have your back, kid."

Pixie nodded against his chest, holding Chibs tightly, finally feeling a little more like her family was complete and that she had a safety net. "I'm sorry I probably raised your blood pressure to the point of near heart attack. These things just kinda happen to me. I was trying to be good, honest." Pixie mumbled into his kutte, making Chibs laugh.

"Sweetheart, if all this is you trying to be good, then I don't even want to think what would happen if you decided to be bad."

Pixie giggled, pulling back. "There's a reason Highton's Sergeant at Arms, Viktor Romanchek called me 'd'yavolenok'. It's Russian for 'little devil'."

Juice laughed. "That's very fitting."

"Well, little devil, now we've got all that out the way, I think we all need to go to bed." Chibs sighed, despite the stress of Pixie's confessional, he was so happy to be back with his Charming brothers and to see Pixie's cheeky little face. He hadn't realised how much he'd missed her until she'd jumped into his arms like an excited child and it made him feel like he could be the family man he'd always wished he could be.

Pixie nodded in agreement as she reached up to kiss Chibs on the cheek and give him one last hug.

"Thanks for being there for me, I've really missed not having you or Juice around." Pixie said honestly.

Chibs's heart warmed. "I'm always gonna be here for you, sweetheart. Sleep well."  
"You too." Pixie smiled, releasing him, then going to Juice. "Night, brother. Glad to have you back."

"You too, sis." Juice grinned, hugging Pixie closely. "See you tomorrow?"

"You betcha." Pixie giggled as she let go of him. Cherry had made herself a bed and during the discussion had changed in the bathroom and looked ready to go to sleep, but was patiently waiting for everyone. "Sleep well, Cherry."

"Thanks, hun." She waved to Pixie.

Tig picked Pixie up, supporting her legs as she wrapped her arms around his bare shoulders. She waved to everyone as he carried her to the bedroom and shut the door. "You mad at me?" Pixie asked him as he locked the door and set her down on the bed.

"Thought I'm supposed to be asking that question." Tig said, getting into bed too and rolling onto his side so they could see each other's faces.

"I'm not mad at you, I said what I needed to and stuck up for someone who needed help."

"I get it, Clay's gonna kill me tomorrow though."

"If he does go for you, he'll have to go through me first." Pixie said adamantly, snuggling up closer to Tig. "I got your back."

"I got yours too, baby." Tig kissed her.

Pixie pulled back and looked into his icy blues. "You okay, Tiggy? You seem wound up. I'm sorry if I came at you too strongly." She stroked his hair and kissed along his jawline.

"It's not you, baby, you're the only thing keeping me sane right now. It's the shit that went down with Kyle. I'll tell you after we've slept, right now I just need you close." Tig murmured, pulling Pixie closer and wrapping his arms and around her, tucking her head under his chin.

She kissed the base of his neck and tangled her legs with his. "Remember what I said, Tiggy, you're a wolf, not a monster." Pixie whispered against him.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	43. Author's Note!

Hey guys! 

First off, I just want to say a HUUUUGE thank you to everyone who's read, left Kudos, and bookmarked my story. You don't understand how happy this makes me, to know that others are enjoying the book as much as I'm enjoying writing it, is unbelievably rewarding. 

I will be going off the episodic chapters and into my own at this point forward as Pixie is about to reveal a huge part of her past and the bond between Tig and Pixie will become even stronger. 


	44. Pixie's Past

**WARNING: CHAPTER CONTAINS MENTION OF DEATH, KIDNAPPING AND GORE.**

**(Following chapters are loosely based on the AK-51 episode)**

Tig had been staring down at Pixie's sleeping form for a good couple of minutes. He'd been woken up by the early morning rays glancing through the blinds, and had been surprised that Pixie wasn't already up. He guessed that the late night and the busy day yesterday had tired her out, and Tig revelled in being able to see Pixie sleep so sweetly next to him. She was curled up into a fetal position with her hands clasped gently around his right arm, holding on for comfort. With her face so calm and still, Tig could really take in her features, her light caramel toned silky skin, high cheekbones, soft lips and pointed chin. He felt himself falling more in love with her, the more he stared down and it panicked him. People close to Tig got hurt, and he was so used to keeping people at arm's length to keep them safe. When Pixie knocked down all his walls and fought to get under his armour, it threw him for a loop and he'd wanted to distance himself from her, but quickly realised, that he couldn't bear to hurt Pixie by pushing her away. The mere thought killed him inside as he realised that not only had he become a comfort to Pixie, at times it felt like she was the only thing keeping his head above the water. He no longer wanted to run from love, _no_ , he wanted to stay and fight to the bitter end.

Tig bent down and kissed Pixie's cheek then got out of bed, stretching his muscles and decided that he'd go talk to the others and let Pixie sleep for as long as she needed. Sauntering from the bedroom, he found Chibs at the bar with Juice and Cherry, chatting together as they all slowly woke up and prepared for the day.

"Mornin'." Chibs greeted him.

"Howdy. Coffee?"

"Pot. Cherry fixed us up wit' some." The Scotsman explained.

"Where's Pixie?" Juice asked.  
"Sleeping, I think she's exhausted from yesterday." Tig said with a fond smile towards the bedroom as he fixed himself a drink.

"Can't believe the amount of scrapes Pixie managed to get into whilst I was gone." Chibs chuckled.

"I got one more for ya', Pixie didn't tell you about the prank she pulled on us with her prosthetic leg. I thought she'd tell you last night, but when she didn't I thought it best to leave it until today." Juice chuckled.

"Oh shit, yeah! That was a wild ride." Tig laughed.

Chibs raised an eyebrow before taking a hesitant sip of his tea. "I have so many questions I don't even know where to start. Fuck me, I think I may have to pull out the ol' parentin' handbooks."

Tig chuckled. "I feel you man, there's no one quite like Pixie. Apparently she had her lower right leg amputated at fourteen. She kept it a secret from us to start with, saying that she wanted everyone to view her as an equal so Clay couldn't use it as an excuse or see it as a weakness and not patch her across."  
"Kid's the definition of an underdog, I mean I thought I was bad, but on paper, a tiny twenty-two year old chick with an amputated limb and a history of trauma is not what you'd think of if you tried to picture a Son, but she's certainly proving everyone wrong." Juice thought aloud.

"Kid's a fucking trailbalzer, that's what she is." Chibs said firmly, clearly proud of Pixie. "So what did our little trailblazer do?"  
"She teamed up with Half-Sack and pranked us. They put his bike on its side, then covered Pixie in fake blood, cut her trouser leg off and put her prosthetic inside it, then had Half-Sack stand over her with an axe."

"Shite!" Chibs exclaimed in half-shock, half-amusement.

"My thoughts exactly." Tig laughed. "The two of them did this right after a church meeting, so everyone saw this as we walked out. Jax and Clay almost shot at 'em."

"Fuckin' hell." Chibs laughed in disbelief. "Guessing you stopped them in time?"

"Oh yeah, only two people who knew Pixie was an amputee were me and Tig. We had to jump right on 'em before Half-Sack became No-Sack." Juice joked.

"Nice touch." Tig chuckled.

"Thanks, been dying to say that for the past couple of weeks." Juice smirked.

"So now I'm all caught in Pixie's mischief-making, has anything else happened in ma absence?"

"Jax has a stalker now. Pixie's been working that issue out pretty well." Tig commented, taking another slow gulp of his coffee and let the news sink in.

"Stalker?" Juice and Chibs exclaimed.

Tig explained the situation with the ATF agent and how Pixie had managed to piece it all together, eventually spotting him at the fundraiser yesterday and how she'd been allowed to attend the last church meeting.

"Hopefully Jax can track down the guy. He could be dangerous to both the club and Tara." Juice thought aloud. "If you give me his name, I can run it through my databases."

"Who am I tracking down?" Jax said sleepily as he walked out of his bedroom running a hand through his hair.

"The ATF asshole." Tig filled him in.

"Yeah, if that fucker touches Tara, I'm not holding back. I'm gonna go speak to her today, see what's going on." Jax growled.

The group chatted more about things on their minds until Bobby and Half-Sack arrived together. Upon seeing Cherry, Half-Sack looked panicked, running over and grabbing her hand.

"You can't be here! Clay'll kill you." He hissed.

"Outside. Now." Cherry glared at him, towing him out of the clubhouse. The others watched them go.

"Looks like Halfie's got himself a lady." Bobby nodded.

"Gemma's gonna flip if she finds out." Juice said with a grimace.

"Well you should've thought of that before you brought her here." Jax shook his head, giving Juice's arm a slap.

"Hey! She hopped in. I didn't invite her and she refused to get out when I tried to tell her no." Juice defended himself with a scowl.

"You could've just thrown her out. Cherry's not that big, same height as Pixie." Jax argued back.

"All the more reason not to, last time you took a small chick on you got your ass beat. I wasn't about to make that mistake." Juice fired back making the others laugh.

"He's got a point, wee gals are always scrappy." Chibs put in as Clay stalked through the door.

"Who're we talking about?" He asked as he approached the bar, taking his sunglasses off.

Realising Clay obviously hadn't seen Half-Sack and Cherry when he parked up, none of the guys wanted to break that news to him. "Pixie." Juice spoke up, the group silently taking a collective sigh of relief.

"What's she done now?" He growled.

"Nothing, she's asleep for the moment, so I for one am enjoying the peace until she wakes up." Tig explained.

Clay nodded and sat down next to Jax as Tig passed him a mug of coffee. "I'll drink to that."

The men sat in relative silence after that, slowly drinking their coffee and smoking their cigars until Piney and Opie came in together discussing Kenny's school grades.

"Morning, Winstons." Tig nodded. "Coffee?"  
"Please." Opine nodded, as he rested against the pool table so Piney could have a seat at the bar.

"Beer." Piney ordered.

"Dad, it's eight in the morning, at least wait until noon." Opie said exasperatedly.

"I can't breathe and everything hurts, I'm having a goddamn beer." Piney growled back, making the guys chuckle as Tig fetched a beer for him from the fridge. As he passed it to Piney, the quiet of the clubhouse was shattered by a horrific scream. It sounded like a wounded animal desperate for mercy and the Sons froze for a second, staring wide-eyed at each other.

"NO! _Please_!" A second scream ripped through the air emanating from Pixie's room. Tig and Opie, being the only two Sons that weren't sitting, immediately sprung into action and sprinted down the hall, Tig reached the door, throwing it open so hard it rebounded on the dresser with a slam. Pixie's sleeping form suddenly jumped and sat up, confusion and panic on her tear-streaked face.  
"What's going on?" Her voice hoarse as she stared up at Tig and Opie as they ran to the bed.

"You were screaming, doll." Tig explained gently. "Are you hurt?"

"No... I... I..." Pixie trailed off, hands shaking. Opie wrapped the blanket around her tighter and lifted her up in his arms to cradle her as he carried her out into the main room with Tig following along behind.

"She had a night terror." Opie told them. "I've had them before." He set Pixie down on the bar top in between Chibs and Juice with Tig jumping up on the bar and sliding up to her so he could comfort Pixie from behind. "Can you remember what you were dreaming about?" He asked gently as the other Sons looked on in shock.

Pixie shook her head. "I don't know. What did I do?"

"You screamed like you were being killed, shouted for mercy." Clay told her.

Pixie put her face in her hands, rubbing it and then ran them through her hair. "I'm sorry, they're usually not as bad as that. The only thing that makes me scream that bad is when I relive the night that caused me to lose my leg." Pixie explained, feeling guilty for causing so much panic and worry.

"You've never opened up about that, baby girl." Tig said softly, stroking her arm. "Can you tell us what went down?"

"It could help you process it better if you talk about the trauma." Opie nodded, patting her knee gently.

Pixie let out a breath and hung her head down, before tipping it back up to hold back tears. Chibs was about to step in and tell everyone to leave her be, when Pixie spoke up, her voice hoarse and wavering.

"Gather round, kids, because this is not a chapter of my life that I like to visit regularly, but I think you guys should know, considering it involves the IRA and the Highton Sons."

Chibs looked up at Pixie. "IRA? Weren't you fourteen when your leg was amputated? Tig told me."  
"I was." Pixie's face was full of pain and her eyes sad as she felt herself being pulled back into the past. "Okay, here we go." She took a breath to steady herself. "Anyone with a weak stomach isn't gonna want to listen to the details, because trust me, the end isn't pretty."

"We're here to listen, kid. Don't worry about us." Piney rasped. He'd seen the look on Pixie's face from some of his 'nam brothers, this girl was well and truly traumatised.

"Okay, so for context, I need to tell you guys a little about my childhood. I grew up surrounded by the Sons, alongside two other girls, Nicole Romanchek, daughter of Viktor Romanchek, Highton's Sergeant at Arms and Piper Jones, daughter of Will Jones, Highton's V.P at the time. We were all born in the same year, and we were like sisters. We went to the same school, slept over at each other's houses to cut down on babysitter costs and played together constantly. We were like three parts of the same soul, Nicole was the eldest, she was this beautiful blonde haired girl, Nickie was the brains behind the group, if you think I'm smart, you should've met her. Piper was the youngest of the trio, she had fiery ginger hair and was the most charismatic out of the three, she could convince you to do anything and could soften even the hardest of hearts. She was totally dramatic too and the most extroverted, hyper-active kid I've ever seen. Whenever we got into trouble, which was often, Piper was the spokesperson to get us out of it. I was the athletic, crazy, protective one, slotting in between them and keeping them safe."

"They sound lovely." Chibs smiled.

"They were. I adored them. When we reached the age of twelve, the three of us started becoming more and more rebellious, we had this dream of the three of us becoming the first ever Daughters of Anarchy. We started becoming interested in being adults and trying new things. We started going out to town together one evening a week and just pretending to be young women on a night out. It was around this time that the IRA got in contact with our charter and asked to form an allegiance. Bruce talked it through with the Sons and decided to decline, wanting to keep out of major illegal business to keep the next generation of Sons, myself and the girls included, safe. The IRA didn't take kindly to being told 'no', and gradually became more and more threatening with us. Bruce was never one to back down and fought them every step of the way. They became increasingly more violent towards us, trying to make us do what they wanted. The girls and I were oblivious to this at the time, the Sons did a good job of maintaining our childhood for as long as they could. It all came down just after Piper's fourteenth birthday. We decided to have a girl's night out on the town and we agreed that one of the Sons, Tiny Mouse, would pick us up at the clubhouse and drive us home after we'd had our fun. We all got dressed up, I had these little white denim shorts on and thought I looked hot for the first time." Pixie stopped to give a small breathy laugh at the memory, before taking a breath and continuing. "We wore makeup too, we put it on each other and off we went. That night was great, we walked along the pier, ate fish and chips, danced to the music outside of Highton's only nightclub and then when it got late, we decided to head up to the Clubhouse. The road is really secluded and steep, lined with dense trees too. It's a straight hill climb with a bend at the top which leads to the plateau where the clubhouse is built. It overlooked the town that way and you could see all the way out to the sea from there. We got about halfway up the hill when we suddenly saw Tiny Mouse ride past us, down the hill, he gave us a wave and we assumed he'd turn around and come back, that maybe he'd set off to go and look for us. So the girls and I stopped walking, Nicole was complaining that her high heels were hurting, she was wearing them for the first time." Pixie stopped for a moment, her face darkening as she realised she was on the precipice of reliving one of the most horrific things to ever happen to her. Tig sensed this and put an arm around her. Juice grabbed Pixie's hand and Chibs held the other. Pixie took another steadying breath and continued.

"Suddenly this faded blue van roars up the road going full on, stomps on the breaks, the side door opens and three men jump out yelling at us with thick Irish accents. We screamed and fought back, I knocked some teeth out. Then a fourth jumps out the van wearing this silver formal suit. He pulled a handgun out with a silencer and pointed it at us, telling us that if we didn't stop screaming, he'd shoot. Nicole and I immediately stopped, afraid of what would happen if we continued. Piper however, was beside herself, she was panicking too much to listen and just kept screaming at the top of her lungs. We tried to calm her, but she wouldn't stop and he..." Pixie trailed off as a sob ripped through her throat, she took another breath in. "He shot her between the eyes. Right there in front of us."

"The bastard!" Chibs exploded. Opie swore and walked away from the bar for a second, taking off his beanie to run his hands through his hair. Ellie was only a couple of years younger than Pixie was during this incident, and the thought sickened him. All he could think about was what Pixie and her friends must have felt, how terrified they must have been, and how young they were. Innocent children in an adult's world.

"He killed her? A little girl?" Piney asked, his face was purple with outrage.

Pixie just nodded, pushing forwards with the memory. "Piper just dropped down and Nicole and I just looked at each other in horror at how dire this situation had gotten. The men shoved us in the van and pulled Piper's body in too. They bound and gagged us, made us sit on the floor of the van with two of the men holding us in place by our hair. Nicole and I had really long hair that was up in ponytails. We drove for a short while, moving out of Highton and they blindfolded us to get us into an abandoned stable building. It still had the stalls and rotting hay and it was so cold in there." Pixie's eyes had glassed over, like she was back there again, seeing and feeling everything. "They took Nicole over to a stall further away from me and they set me down on a wooden chair, tied me to it, and then took my blindfold off. There was a table of items next to me, a jug of water, a towel, a knife, a piece of electrical chord, a plank of wood with nails sticking out of it. Then in front of me was a video camera on a tripod. One of the men gets in front of me and tells me to tell the camera that I want Bruce to agree to the deal with the IRA. Tell him that if he doesn't agree, they'll kill me. I realised the weight of what they were trying to get me to do, so I told him to go fuck himself."

"Atta girl." Tig nodded.

"Thanks, he didn't have the same reaction. He beat me with the electrical chord, whipped me with it. Then asked me again. I told him to bugger off. This went on for what felt like hours to me, I could hear the same thing happening to Nicole, and I wished I could fight free of the ropes, I was trying so hard to get out of them that I dislocated my right wrist. I didn't even feel the pain because all I could feel was the stinging of the chord as it rained down on me over and over and over again." Pixie described. 

Chibs swore and squeezed her hand. "I want them dead. I'll kill them myself." He seethed.

"Let her finish, Chibs." Bobby said gently.

"The guy gave up with the chord and started using his fists instead, I just kept insulting him, laughing at him, doing everything I could to rile him as I refused to give in to what they wanted. I would never betray my club or my family like that. Nicole was in the same boat, she was just screaming at them in Russian, and then all of a sudden, she went silent, mid-yell as the guy hitting her punched her and broke her neck. I heard it happen and there was nothing I could do." Pixie broke off into another round of sobs, horrific wails that shook her body, reliving the helplessness and the pain of losing her sisters. "I just remember feeling so helpless and alone. I was totally isolated now. I had nobody there with me and no one knew where I was. I felt like I'd failed Piper and Nicole, I'd protected them every step of the way through childhood up until that point. I'd fought bullies for them, broke noses for them... and then when they needed me the most... I couldn't help them." Pixie's face was pale and haunted, Juice felt tears sting his eyes as his heart broke for his little sister.

"You were a wee bairn yerself, lassie. There was nothing ye' could have done." Chibs soothed her, kissing her hand and holding it close.

"I know, but I just felt so responsible. When I heard Nickie's neck crack and the panicked shouts of the men when they realised they'd accidentally killed her, I just started screaming, I went ballistic. I was throwing myself around in the chair, trying so hard to get out. The men came back and tried to get me to stop, but they couldn't subdue me. Then all of a sudden, the stall door opens and the man with the silver suit comes back, he's holding the gun and then walks over to me and squats down in front of me, telling me to hush, trying to comfort me in some way, even though I'd seen him kill Piper and he had the gun pointed at me." Pixie took a moment to breathe, Jax got her a glass of water and she took a sip, clearing her throat. "He was trying so hard to manipulate me, saying stuff like 'don't you worry now, pet, your uncle Jimmy's here. I just want what's best for you and your family'. It was disgusting, and I let him know that. I spat in his face."

Chibs, who had been silently looking down and listening whilst Pixie told them her story, jerked up his head, eyes narrowing at the mention of the name 'Jimmy'. "Lass, did he give you his full name?"

"No, not then, but I found it out later, fucking Jimmy O'Phelan. He's the one responsible for torturing me and Nickie, for killing Piper and for torching and killing my club." Pixie said bitterly. "And one day, I'm going to be the one to kill him." She continued darkly.

"Shite." Chibs breathed, face going pale. "I know the fucker. He's the one tha' gave me these scars, he's got my ex-wife and daughter with him in Ireland."

Pixie's eyes went wide in shock. "I-I didn't know, Chibs." She breathed.

"All the more reason to hunt him down like the sorry sack 'o'shite he is. I wanna see that fucker bleed." Chibs growled. The rest of the club looked on in shock. Chibs was one of the hardest Sons to rattle, but right now, there was a dark fire in his eyes and murder on his face. All Chibs could think about is that not only had Jimmy taken his first daughter, he'd harmed his adopted one too. Fire was burning in the Scotsman's veins as Pixie reached out and gently stroked his cheek.

"At least he brought us closer, Chibs. We'll do it together when the time is right, yeah? It's going to be okay."

Chibs forced himself to look up at Pixie, her eyes shining with unshed tears and a small smile that still stayed there, despite the horrors she'd spoken about. This lass was not a victim of Jimmy, but a survivor. She had more strength than Chibs even thought was possible and even now, he realised, Pixie was trying to comfort _him_ , despite being mid-way through reliving the worst moment of her life. He breathed deeply to regain his composure and then gave her a smile, reaching up to stroke her cheek in return. "Aye, I've got you, lass. Do you feel up to finishing?"

"Yeah." Pixie looked a little relieved to see Chibs was calmer, and so continued. "After I spat and Jimmy, he lost it. Started spouting about how I needed to learn respect and all that crap. Told me that I had to tell Bruce the ransom request or else I'd hurt more. I told him just to kill me because I was never going to submit. He was smoking a cigarette at that point, and in his anger he held the butt up to my ribs. He just kept burning me there. Over and over. That's why my Reaper is where it is, to hide the scarring he left behind. He kept warning me to stop and give in, I just kept fighting him. I wouldn't let him break me. He started beating me with the wooden plank and when that didn't work, he got spiteful, turned it around so the nails were pointed at me and went for my legs. He swung the plank and it connected with my right shin. The long nails went through and pierced the bone, breaking it in multiple places. I finally screamed out in pain and he just kept hitting it. There was so much blood everywhere and I could... I could see the bone protruding from it." Pixie shuddered and Juice thought he may faint. He couldn't imagine the amount of pain Pixie had endured. He'd broken his wrist once as a kid playing basketball and that shit had hurt like there was no tomorrow. "At that point, I was just screaming at him to stop, I wanted out of there more than I've wanted anything else in my life. He stopped and asked if I would deliver the message, and I told him that the only thing I'd be delivering was his ass, straight to hell. I didn't want him to have the satisfaction of seeing me bend to his will. I refused to. I think I made him go insane as he suddenly pulled a knife out of his pocket and said that if I wouldn't deliver the message, I would become the message. He then went over to my left leg and started carving into it. I felt every second of that fiery pain until I passed out. Passing out may have saved my life because my pulse was so weak at that point that after that, that the men couldn't find it and thought they'd killed me. So they put Nickie's body along with mine in the back of the van and drove back to the point of the road where they'd snatched us and duped all three of us there, took a photo and emailed it to Bruce with one word, 'comply'." Pixie stopped for a moment, breaking down into sobs whilst Tig cradled Pixie from behind and Juice, Chibs and Opie gently patted and caressed her to make sure she knew how much the club supported her. There was silence until Clay broke out.

"I don't believe it." He said in shock as he mulled over Pixie's words. Due to her distressed state, Pixie took it the wrong way.

"You don't believe me? Fine. Here's some proof, Clay." Pixie snapped, she jerked out of Tig's grip and put her left leg up onto the bar, yanking the sweatpants leg up to reveal her thigh where there were thick pink scars spelling out 'IRA'. "That proof enough for you?" She exclaimed bitterly. Chibs' eyes went wide as he took in what he was seeing, this poor girl's leg had been used as a grotesque message from Jimmy himself, and he could see how it had affected Pixie's self-image as she stared down at her thigh with such disgust on her face. Chibs reached out and touched Pixie's leg, looking her fiercely in the eye as he stood up.

"Lass, we're with you. Every step of the fucking way. You're family to us now, ya hear me? And this... this scarring, doesn't detract from who you are. You're my kid. You're my daughter and I'll be damned if I let a child o' mine think that they're ugly or disgusting for a scar. Scars prove that we're stronger than whatever tried to kill us. Ya hear?" He growled, there was such love and fierce protectiveness on his face that Pixie was taken aback. She had never expected this reaction, and she reached out and clung to Chibs as she sobbed into his blue t-shirt whist Tig rubbed her back. Jax and Opie began pacing the room like restless wolves trying to wrap their heads around how someone could be so heartless, so cruel as to kill two girls and permanently disfigure a third. Suddenly Jax turned on his heels and stormed towards Pixie as she slowly pulled away from Chibs.

"Pixie, I... I don't understand how they could do that to you, but I promise, I have your back from here on. We're gonna figure this out." He opened his arms out for a hug and Pixie leant into his arms, she was shaking really bad, and Jax wrapped his arms tightly around her to keep her from doing it quite so badly.

"You guys are unbelievable. I didn't even get this much support back when all this went down. Not that I deserved it, I appreciate everything you're doing for me." Pixie mumbled.

This time it was Opie's turn to storm over, not quite believing his ears. "Not deserving? Are you kidding me? Pixie! For christ sakes, they took almost everything from you, they almost took your life, why on earth would you not believe that you deserve all the love and support that we have for you?"

"Because I couldn't save the girls, and because I couldn't save my charter!" Pixie exclaimed, breathlessly. Hearing her gasp, Jax pulled away to look at her and Juice took the opportunity to bring Pixie into his lap so he could start helping her try and calm a little before she spiralled into a panic attack. Pixie sensed what he was trying to do and began taking some deep breaths in time with him before continuing. "After all this went down, Bruce hid the fact that he bent to the IRA's will and began gun running. I didn't find out until I became VP and I forced him to withdraw and fight back. That was what the massacre was about. It was the final straw for the IRA."

None of them expected the slam as Tig's hand came smacking into the bar top. "No!" He growled, swinging off of the bar and and stalking round to face Pixie. "No, you stop that, right now. You did what you always do and put everyone else's needs above your own. You did what you could to protect and save them and you cannot blame yourself!" Tig exclaimed, chest heaving. "You keep saying I'm not a monster, so how can you put so much faith into me, and not put any in yourself?" Tig reached out and stroked Pixie's face, drying some of the tears whilst Jax went searching for tissues.  
"Tig's right." Juice said gently, hugging Pixie tightly as her body trembled against his. "You always see the best in all of us, we can't let you blame yourself for that. You were just a kid, you still _are_ a kid. We're here for you now, you're family. You're my sister." Juice said calmly but firmly, snuggling Pixie against him further.

"No matter what happens now, ya have us, lassie." Chibs reiterated. "And we don't blame you fer what happened, so neither should you."

"Even though you're all grumpy tough-ass bikers, you guys are the best at making me feel better." Pixie said with a tearful giggle, which made the others chuckle in relief that Pixie was coming back into herself again.

"Good." Jax chuckled with a smile as he wiped some of Pixie tears off of her face. "You can always come to us with shit like this, you've proven you have our backs, so now it's up to us to do the same."

"You're part of our family, kid." Clay nodded, agreeing.

"You're as strong and brave as the men I met in 'nam. You're a fighter, sweetheart." Piney put in. He shook his head trying to digest Pixie's trauma. "How did your charter respond to the attack?" He asked.

"Bruce was as hard on me as ever. When it was clear that I definitely was going to live, he started pushing for physio and to get me back on my feet, or foot, I guess, as soon as possible and to get back into training and all that. What he was trying to do was to get me feeling as normal as possible and to restore my faith in my own capabilities, but at times it felt like I lived with a drill sergeant. Especially some days when the grief got bad and I could barely lift my head off of the pillow, being weighed down by the memories and the loss of my sisters. Will Jones couldn't bear the fact that I survived and Piper didn't. She was everything to him and seeing me only made his pain worse, and in his grief, his relationship with me turned toxic and I think a part of him blamed me. Although Tiny Mouse had suggested that we go out to celebrate, I had been the one to encourage the other two to go out. They'd wanted to stay in and watch movies."

"I understand his pain, but he shouldn't have made you feel that way. How were you to know it was going to go as wrong as it did?" Piney growled, the others nodding in agreement. Tig settled himself on the bar top and picked Pixie up and out of Juice's lap so he could hug her tightly to him. He was reeling from the trauma that Pixie had experienced at such a young age and his heart was aching for her as he swallowed hard and concentrated on not letting his brothers see him cry.  
"I know, we thought we were safe, I knew every single name of every person in Highton. It was a small town and they all kept us safe. I would never have intentionally put Nickie or Piper in danger, I was their protector. The rest of the Sons understood it and Viktor ended up moving across from Sergeant at Arms to VP. He and his wife, Francesca were unbelievably supportive, they knew Nickie loved me as a sister and would have wanted them to treat me as such, so they took me under their wing. Helping me process everything and restore the fond memories so that they overrode the bad ones. The rest of the Sons treated me the same, maybe with a bit more care at first, they were definitely more protective, I wasn't allowed out unless at least one of them was with me or knew where I was. It was maddening but I understood why. I got my first tattoo as a memorial to Nickie and Piper pretty much straight after." Pixie carefully pulled down the hoodie collar so the guys could see the three daisies tattooed over her heart. "We had a hang out spot under this old pine tree in Highton park. Nothing grew near the roots, it was just dry dirt so we'd all sit together and talk about things and just spend time together. After Nickie and Piper's funeral, I went back to that tree to say goodbye in private, and nestled up against the thick root that we used to rest our backs against was a little cluster of three daisies growing where nothing else was. I took it as a sign and found it so comforting to see that they were still with me."  
"That's beautiful, darlin'." Jax said, a little choked at the sweet sentiment.

"Thanks. It's seen me through a lot. The trouble with the IRA didn't end there. Unbeknownst to me, Bruce agreed to the gunrunning whilst I was still in the hospital. He thought it was the only thing to do to keep me safe as he didn't want to lose me. The whole club kept it a secret from me until I got voted in as VP. I thought that the only thing we transported was medical supplies to places that needed it, and they kept me oblivious to it as they knew how I'd respond."  
"You'd want them out?" Jax asked.

"Hell yeah!" Pixie said adamantly, earning a grunt from Clay. "It's dangerous, guns kill innocent people, and being in bed with the IRA is a recipe for disaster. I found out when I went digging. I'd had a hunch that they were keeping something from me, so I tailed a couple of prospects to a warehouse outside of Highton where they were smuggling the guns inside bags of coal and fish barrels. I confronted Bruce and we had one of the most violent fights we'd ever had. When we argued it was never pretty, but that one was for the history books. Viktor split us up and I gave Bruce and ultimatum, it was me or the guns. Either way, one of us had to leave Highton. I was fully prepared to leave, so I packed a bag. I knew that the gun running had to be bringing in major money into the local economy and to the Sons' pockets and I wasn't sure I was worth more than that in Bruce's eyes. He held a meeting with the others and they all voted to stop the gun running. Viktor was furious that Bruce hadn't told me sooner, he got that Bruce was trying to keep peace to keep me safe, but thought he was doing it in the wrong way."

"If someone did that to my son, I don't care who they are, I would've been out for blood." Jax said ferociously.

"Here, here." Piney concurred.

"It was more about club politics to Bruce. He was afraid of the IRA striking back if he stepped out of line, which was valid, considering that's what they did, hence the massacre."

"Again, _not_ your fault." Tig growled, already sensing Pixie's guilt.

"I have to take accountability for my actions, I acted rashly without weighing the options. I am partly to blame for the massacre and the twenty-seven Sons who perished because of Jimmy O's sick need for control."

"Jimmy is _solely_ to blame fo' that!" Chibs huffed.

"A retaliation is expected in situations like that, but something of that magnitude was uncalled for." Clay put in.

"Yeah, I guess." Pixie sighed, leaning back into Tig for comfort. "So now you guys know my bloody history, and the story behind my scars and lack of leg."

"But not lack of spirit, You're the strongest person I know." Juice smiled up at her.

"Thanks J. You're a tough cookie too."

"I think you and Tig need to take the next couple of days off to recuperate. You've both been struggling and I think things are finally settling down around here." Jax suggested.

"Really? I'd love a break. No offence but you guys have more drama than Shakespeare." Pixie giggled, finally feeling more herself again, if a little shaken. It felt like a massive relief to tell the Sons about more of her past, and to know that they supported her no matter what.

"Ain't that the truth." Opie chuckled. "Take the cabin, it's out of the way and peaceful up there, but close enough that if we need you, you can head back quickly."

"Really? Thanks Ope." Tig smiled. Piney pulled a set of keys out of his kutte and tossed them over to him.

"Have fun up there. Fridge is stocked with beer, though you may need food."

"I see you guys have your priorities straight." Pixie giggled. "We can do inventory and check."

"Are you sure you guys don't need me?" Tig double checked, eyeing Clay.

"Yeah. Go knock yourselves out." Clay confirmed.

"Alright, baby, looks like we got ourselves a holiday." Tig kissed Pixie's cheek and then helped her down off of the bar. Chibs pulled her in for a hug and kissed the top of her head in a fatherly manner.

"Stay out of trouble fer the love o' peace, you wee scunner." Chibs playfully warned her. "Love you, kiddo."

"I'll try at least. If I stop completely, Tig might get bored." Pixie joked. "Love you too Chibbie, maybe you could pop up for a visit? I've been missing being able to spend time with you."

"I'll see what I can do, lassie." Chibs smiled down warmly at her before letting Pixie go so she could hug the rest of the Sons before Tig took her back to the bedroom to get ready, leaving the others to mull over Pixie's heart-wrenching revelations.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

**Sorry that this chapter was so dark, Pixie's past is quite traumatic, but at least it's been revealed now! I know that the Sons of Anarchy show gets very dark and graphic at times, so I wanted to make sure I stayed in keeping with that, and so did't hold back. Please let me know your thoughts and feelings! XOXO**

****


	45. Cabin Cuties

"I know the way to the cabin pretty well, so just follow me and I'll get us there darlin'." Tig explained as he packed a spare change of clothes into a bag. Pixie came out of the bathroom fully dressed and put her bag down on the bed, checking the contents.

"Sounds like a plan, you better ride fast though or I'm overtaking and finding my own way." Pixie joked cheekily.

Glad to see that Pixie had some of her usual bounce back, Tig grinned. "Oh, is that so, missy?"

"Uh huh." Pixie nodded as Tig walked around the bed to pin her up against the wall, she beamed up at him as he put his hands on either side of her head to lean down close and kiss her.

"I'm glad you're feeling better, baby. You really scared me this morning, but I'm glad you were able to tell us what happened, and I'm so proud of you." He murmured softly as he nuzzled the side of Pixie's neck, she clung on to him and ran her hands through his hair.

"I think it was a good thing to talk about it. I've had a lot of years to process what happened, but it's still painful. I'm glad you were with me though, you're my rock. I'm so grateful you're in my life, same with Juice, Chibs and the others. You all mean the world to me."

"You mean the world to me too, baby doll. I..." Tig suddenly trailed off. Pixie felt him stiffen against her and she pushed him back a little to look at Tig's face.

"I? What were you gonna say?" Pixie asked, Tig sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands. Sensing the change in mood, Pixie pushed his arms aside and clambered into his lap. "Talk to me, Tiggy." She pleaded with him, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck so she could look him in the eye.

"I...I need to tell you what happened yesterday, I need to let you know what kind of man I am before I tell you what I was gonna tell you now."

"Okay, shoot." Pixie nodded, brow furrowed slightly in concern as she looked into Tig's tired eyes and haggard face.

"Whilst you were at the fair, the guys and I went to take Chucky to the chinese place where he hid the money."  
"In broad daylight?!" Pixie looked up at him, wide eyed.

"Yeah, Clay got sick of Chuck's company and wanted him gone asap."

"...right." It looked like Pixie wanted to comment on Clay's actions but held her tongue, wanting Tig to continue his explanation.

"So we get Chuck and the money in the van, it'd gone smoothly up until that point, and the Henry Lin's crew shows up and blocks us in the lot, taking pot shots at us."  
"Geez!" Pixie exclaimed, her hands automatically fluttering over him, as if she was subconsciously checking for injuries.  
"I know, it was mad. Whilst we're all flat out on the van floor trying not to be turned into swiss cheese, Clay finds fucking plates in the money bag."  
"Plates? Like license plates? Or dinner plates?" Pixie queried, a little confused.

Tig chuckled at her adorably innocent assumptions. "No, baby, we're talking money laundering plates that stamp counterfeit dollars."

"Oh, shit, so the money was fake?"

"Yup. The money was about as useful to us as one ply toilet paper. Clay was not happy, he worked the situation in our favour though. He exchanged the fake money, plates, and Chuck, for real money from Henry Lin."  
"So what happened to Chuck?"

"I marched that guy to his death sentence basically." Tig said a little regretfully. "Most likely, Henry Lin is either gonna kill Chuck, or make him work for him."

"That guy was better off in jail. He seemed nice."

"Because you always see the best in people. Not that that makes me feel much better in this situation, doll."

"Sorry." Pixie kissed his cheek. "You did what you had to do, he lied to the club, and if he did that so willingly in order to get a foot in the door, who knows what he may have pulled if he'd got into the ranks properly."  
"Yeah, it's just tough. I fucking hate doing stuff like that, hearing him panic and cry out as they stuffed him in the car. It's nowhere near as bad as what I had to do later, though."

"And what was that? Does it have something to do with Kyle?"

"Yeah, why?"

"One minute Jax is slamming him against the wall ready to make him into Spam meat, and the next he's acting like best mates with him. It felt off and when you shut me out, I figured whatever was happening wasn't gonna be pretty."

Tig nodded with a little wince. "Sorry for pushing you out, darlin', I just didn't want you in the crossfire of the Chucky run and then the Kyle retaliation. We burnt him, doll." Tig explained, his crystal blue eyes turning haunted and a grim expression clouded his face. Pixie could really see how this was affecting Tig, eating him up inside.

"Tiggy, he hadn't blacked out his tat'. Even I know that if ex-members don't black them out, it's fire or knife. It's the only way to keep order for the Sons and to keep the Reaper's integrity." Pixie told him, stroking his cheek. "Kyle should know that, and he seemed like a prat anyways. I mean his kids wanted him there, and all he really came there to do was to buy his way back in. I'm not sure he even cared about seeing them, he left before he heard his son's band play, which was his whole excuse for wanting to show up in the first place. That's a huge red flag for me. He had to learn his place, and his priorities."

"I know, I know, I just..." Tig hung his head.

"Feel guilty? That's a _good_ thing, because if you were really the monster you think you are, you wouldn't feel that way. You did what you had to do, in order to protect the Sons and your family. That's why you're a good Sergeant, and a good man."

Tig looked up, his eyes intense. "So none of this is scaring you away?"

Pixie cocked her head and let out a laugh. "Do I look scared to you? Am I running, screaming 'monster'?" As if to emphasise her point, Pixie leant forwards and kissed him hard and passionately, before pulling back to see Tig's face properly.

"You're incredible, doll." Tig looked at her, full of wonder and adoration.

"Tiggy, I'd be a bit of a hypocrite if I did get scared by you, considering I shot a man to death in front of you and I've beaten numerous people up in your presence, one of them being Jax. If anyone's incredible, it's you, Alexander Trager, because you've been through hell and back and you can still find it in you to be kind, considerate, funny, loving and protective. You saw something in me that no one else has taken the time to."

This time it was Tig's turn to kiss Pixie. "I love you." He murmured, putting his forehead against hers. Pixie's heart skipped a beat as she heard his words and something clicked into place. All her life, Pixie had been searching for unconditional love. Trying to believe that pure love existed out there somewhere, but never quite believing that she would get to experience it, until now.

"I love you too." She whispered back, her hazel eyes shining true.

Tig's eyes widened. "I wasn't sure if you were going to say it back."

Pixie pulled back. "Do I need a neon sign that says 'I love Tig Trager'?" She giggled. He laughed at the reference. "Oh, it's getting a upgrade then, huh?"

"Well yeah, I gotta keep reminding you somehow." Pixie joked. "Though, I have another effective idea."

Tig raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Pixie suddenly grinned mischievously, and shoved him so Tig flopped backwards with a laugh of surprise, Pixie pretended to pin him down with his arms above his head, and started kissing him all over his face, neck and the top of his chest where his shirt buttons were undone, squealing "Love you!" in between each kiss until Tig was laughing and squirming so hard she had to stop. "See how much I love you now?" Pixie chuckled, propping her chin up on her hand.

"I do. You're adorable."

"You're handsome."

"You're a little goofball."

"You're a bigger goofball." Pixie smiled and kissed his cheek before rolling off of Tig and standing up, stretching. "We should probably hit the road before shit hits the fan, otherwise I'm gonna have to drag you away."

"I'll follow you anywhere, baby." He said cheesily, earning a smile and an eye roll from Pixie. "I like seeing you in that Harley crop top. Reminds me of your first day."

Pixie blushed a little. "Thanks, that day was probably one of the most nerve-wrecking experiences of my life."

"Oh?" Tig looked up from where he was zipping up his bag.

"Yeah, I turn up unannounced to a charter that could potentially see me as a threat, in a country that I've never been to before, and I then had to prove myself to a bunch of grumpy looking hard-asses, apart from Juice, he was sweetheart all the way."

Tig snorted. "I don't think Juice could look threatening even if he tried. What did ya' think of me?"

Pixie smiled reliving the first time she set eyes on Tig. "I thought you had the most stunning eyes I'd ever seen. You looked intimidating as hell, but at the same time, there was a softness to you, you were looking at me the entire time, like you were seeing straight past every front I was putting up."

Tig nodded. "I remember seeing you pull up on your pink bike, then up close, just being completely taken aback by this little raven-haired firecracker that went toe-to-toe with both Jax and Clay, and didn't waver once. That and how goddamn beautiful you are."

Pixie rolled her eyes and scoffed.

Tig continued with a big grin. "I'm serious! I mean you have your sharp features and wild eyes, and your silky tanned skin, I mean, you'd have to be blind not to see that you're a gorgeous girl."

Pixie felt herself blushing furiously. "Honestly, you're the only person to ever tell me any of this. I mean I've even gotten some flack off of some travelling Sons in the past. They didn't think I belonged due to my skin tone and the obvious fact I'm a female."

Tig's eyes turned deadly and dark and he took her hands in his. "Give me their names. I'll kill 'em." He growled.

"Bruce and I beat the living daylights out of them, so they got what they deserved. I didn't even know my mum, so why should it matter that she happened to be a black woman? What matters is my capability and my life, not a woman who chose not to be in it."

Tig calmed a little. "Right on, but if I hear someone make a comment, I'm not holding back."

"I'll kick their asses with you. We're all just humans at the end of the day, where we come from and what we look like from should never be a cause for judgement."

"You're beautiful inside and out." Tig smiled. "C'mon, let's hit the road, baby girl."

☠️☠️☠️

The duo pulled into the dirt driveway of the cabin set deep into the woods on the outskirts of Charming. Pixie was immediately excited by the setting and the prospect of spending some time in nature again. The cabin itself was a one storey wooden building with a porch you could sit on and a faded blue door. It was fairly square structure and Pixie thought it looked rustic and quaint, it had a sort of a rugged charm to it.

"Welcome to Piney's cabin." Tig announced as he took his helmet off and switched off his bike's engine.

"It's lovely! I can't wait to explore." Pixie enthused as she put her helmet down on the handlebars and turned around in a slow circle, taking in the huge fir trees that towered over her like ancient senitals.

"Oh yeah? Well let's unpack and then we can do that."

"Yay!" Pixie did her signature jump of glee and Tig smirked.

"I love your little quirks."

"What do you mean?"

"You have little things that you do which are just really unique to you, like that little happy jump and your pinky promises, and your running tackle hugs." Tig listed, causing Pixie to giggle in realisation. "Which reminds me, I'm a little jealous."

"Why?" Pixie cocked her head.

"Well, You've given Chibs and Juice tackle hugs, I'm pretty sure you've done it to Opie and Happy too, so why don't I get one?"

"I usually do those when I haven't seen the person for a while, like when they've left or something. It's 'coz I get really excited that they're back. And you haven't exactly left me alone for long."

"Well yeah, 'coz I'd miss you too much and you'd also get into trouble." Tig teased. Then he had an idea. "Stay put for a second, I'm on to something."

Pixie looked a little confused, and watched as Tig took her bag off of her, then went to the front door, opening it and disappearing inside, closing the door behind him. There was a pause, and then he flung the door open, and put his arms out wide with a goofy grin on his face. "Pixie!" He called out, like he was welcoming her.

Pixie laughed, realising what he was up to and ran towards Tig, jumping up at the last second. He caught her, one arm supporting her legs as she wrapped them around his waist and the other wrapping around her back. He nuzzled his nose against hers and turned, carrying her through the doorway and then pushing it closed with his back.

"Was that what you wanted?" Pixie teased, kissing Tig.

"Oh yeah, definitely worth it." He chuckled. "Least I didn't drop you like Juice."

"Technically he didn't drop me, he just fell over, he hung onto me the entire time and took the brunt of the fall too."

Tig nodded, impressed. "He's a good big brother to you."

"Very true, so what do you wanna do now?" Pixie asked eagerly.

"Hmm, what to do, what to do." Tig pretended to think, before getting a mischievous glint in his eyes. "What to do to _you._ " He teased, making Pixie squeal as he carried her over to the couch and dropped her down onto it before jumping on top of Pixie and covering her with kisses and tickles until Pixie started hiccuping she was laughing so hard.

"Tiggy!" Pixie gasped as she finally managed to grab his hands.

"Yeah, darlin'?"

"I'm gonna get you back for that." Pixie stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

"Hmm, I'll look forward to it." Tig grinned, standing up so Pixie could get up and explore. He watched her take in the room around her, the main room was rectangular with two doorways on either wall leading to two bedrooms, the bathroom and a kitchen. The furniture was wooden and rustic, with faded rugs to soften the dark hardwood flooring. There were windows at the bottom of the room and another door looking out onto the river and the back porch where you could sit out on. There were two tall bookcases housing knicknacks, DVDs and books, a TV stand with an old TV and DVD player and side tables filled with playboys, fishing magazines and Harley catalogues.

"I like it here." Pixie smiled as she opened the kitchen door to have a look at the small room there. "Why don't we check the cupboards and do a shop for food if there isn't any?"

Tig followed her voice and found Pixie sat cross legged on the floor next to the open cupboards on the floor. "Good idea, baby, what do we have?"

"Flour, tins of beans, tuna." Pixie listed as Tig bent down behind her. "If you wanted to, we could get some supplies and I could show you how to make some food from where I'm from? We could do butter pies and Eccles cakes?"

"I have no idea what they are." Tig chuckled. "But if that's what you wanna do, then I'm game. Make a list of ingredients, darlin'." He nodded, standing up. "I'll take the bags into one of the bedrooms."

Pixie found a notepad and a pen that worked and began noting down things they needed. Once she was satisfied with the list, she went off to find where Tig had got to, finding him in the larger of the two bedrooms sorting through his bag. Pixie saw the opportunity for a sneak attack and took it, tip-toeing into the room and up behind Tig.

"Got you!" She yelped jumping on his back as Tig swore in surprise and tried not to fall over forwards, releasing at the last second before he flipped the assailant off of him, that it was Pixie.

"Shit baby." He chuckled in relief as Pixie kissed his neck and slid off of him again.

"Told you I was gonna get you back." She smirked.

Tig grabbed her wrists, pulling them up above her head and put her up against the wall. Pixie looked up at him with wide eyes and he kissed and nipped at her neck. "Are you up to no good, baby girl?" He growled.

"Maybe, what're you gonna do about it?" Pixie challenged him, reaching up to nibble at the skin on Tig's neck.

Tig let out an involuntary moan and put his leg in between Pixie's lifting her up slightly, releasing her wrists so he could put his hand on the side of her neck and face, leaning down to kiss her. Pixie responded in kind, tangling her hands in his hair and nipping at his bottom lip which Tig found addictive and he felt his heart pounding in his chest in a way that he'd hardly ever felt before. It felt like Pixie just instinctively knew what to do to get his blood pumping, she was gorgeous and powerful and Tig felt addicted. He'd been with so many different women before and it had never felt like this before. He usually had to lead them, had to tell them what he wanted, but Pixie just seemed to know. "Goddamn it, darlin' you're gonna be the death of me." He groaned, pulling away and looking down into Pixie's lust-filled hazel eyes. It took every ounce of his strength not to put her over his shoulder and carry her to the bed, but he reminded himself that he wanted to take this at a pace Pixie was comfortable with.

"Why's that?" Pixie asked cheekily.

"Because you make my heart beat so hard it feels like I'm gonna die, but in the best way possible." Tig tried to explain.

Pixie giggled. "For me, you give me these intense butterflies that feel like my stomach is doing backflips, it's so bizarre but I love it."

"I love you."

"Love you too, big guy. I got the shopping list."

"Good girl, you wanna hit the road and get them? Or do you wanna unpack first?" Tig took a step back so Pixie was free to move.

"Since you've unpacked, I'll do the same." Pixie nodded. Going to where Tig had put her bag on the bed, undoing the drawstring and taking out her change of new clothes. "Happy bought me so much stuff, I feel so weird about it, but grateful too."

"Where'd he take you?"  
"A huge shopping center, he pretty much towed me around all the relevant stores and insisted on grabbing anything I looked at for more than a second." Pixie explained.

"Damn." Tig said, feeling a little off about it and inadequate. Thinking maybe Pixie expected that kind of treatment.

Pixie looked up, sensing the mood change and looking at how Tig was looking down at his boots. "Hey, what's the grumpy face for?" She asked him, pushing him to sit down on the bed and straddling his lap.

"Nothin' baby." He tried, Pixie gave him an eye roll.

"You know that's never gonna work, right? Tell me what's up, Trager."

"I wish I could treat you to stuff like that, treat you like the princess you are."

Pixie scoffed. "I don't." Tig looked up at her, confused, so she continued. "I'm not the kind of girl who expects everyone to drain their bank accounts on me. It freaks me out when people spend money on me, I mean as soon as I stepped foot in that mall, I started having an anxiety attack to the point Happy had to give me his ring to fiddle with so I wouldn't pick at my thumbs. So don't think for a second that you have to spend money on me, Trager, because I've never, ever, asked or wanted you to do that. I love you, _not_ your bank account." Pixie explained, ending with a slightly scolding tone.

"So if I did want to give you something, what would I have to do?" Tig asked, relieved and a little amazed at Pixie.

"Not spend money on me? Personally, I think the best gifts are the little ones, full of sentiment, and not necessarily monetary value. Bruce rarely got me gifts, but you wanna know what the best thing he ever gave me was?" Pixie asked, Tig nodded and she reached into her pocket and pulled out a little dark blue oblong pebble that was smooth and had grey lines on it. "He gave it to me on my ninth birthday. We spent the day at the beach, we were throwing stones and he said he was proud of me, and handed me this stone, said it was unique like me. I tucked this little thing in my pocket and I've carried it around with me for thirteen years. It's seen me through everything and in my darkest hours, I pull it out and it reminds me of one of the happiest moments of my life."

Tig smiled, listening to Pixie recount the memory and understanding her more. "That's beautiful, doll."

"Exactly. It's the same with the Happy situation, he bought me so much stuff, but the favourite thing he gave me was his ring in exchange for the one he got that day. It's a sign he accepts and trusts me enough to hold onto it for him and reminds me that he considers me a friend." Pixie put the pebble back and took out the silver skull ring with the green gem eyes to show Tig. "So stop your grumpiness, there's no need, and I don't want anything from you except your love and acceptance."

Tig kissed Pixie and smiled at her, feeling more secure. "Okay. but there is one thing I wanna do." He said, undoing the decorative silver buckle of one of his black leather bracelet cuffs, then taking Pixie's wrist and securing it there. It was loose on her and Tig made a mental note to make another hole later so it would fit her better. "I wear these two cuffs constantly, they kinda help to ground me and everyone knows they're mine, so I wanna give you this one as a sign that I love you, I trust you, and that you're mine too." Tig explained, Pixie blushed and stroked the soft worn leather of the cuff that was now hers.

"I-I love it. Thank you, Alex. I love and trust you, and you're mine too." She kissed him gently and tenderly.

"I love you too, Meggie. Let's go get groceries."

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

**I hope this fluffy chapter makes up for the gruesomeness of the last one! Tig and Pixie's relationship is really progressing now, what do you guys think about that? Also, what's your stance on smut writing, the pair seem to be heading in that direction (this is Tig after all!), and I want to tailor this book to the preferences of my wonderful readers. I can either add or skip over full-on smut for the later chapters, depending on what you guys decide, so please let me know as I'm more than happy to do either xoxo**

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	46. Fun Times

**(The song below is "Faster" by Nathan Matthewson and it reminded me of how Tig thinks of Pixie and their relationship.)**

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd3g0sgzCSM>

**Mild smut throughout**

When Tig and Pixie returned to the cabin, they were both still laughing about the fun they'd had goofing off with each other around the store. Pixie had repeatedly gotten distracted and had wandered off from Tig to the point in sheer exasperation, he'd picked her up and put her in the shopping cart so he could keep track of her and find the relevant items they needed. Tig was quickly realising that whilst it was a good thing Pixie was intelligent and hyper observant, it had its downside being that Pixie was not a good multi-tasker and her attention was easily diverted, so combining that with her highly energetic personality, it was the same as trying to keep hold of a springer spaniel on a sugar high. Once they'd set out all the ingredients, they managed to convert the temperatures and recipe amounts between the two of them so they both understood what they were making, Pixie went hunting for a cookbook, finding it in one of the large bookcases in the main room. They started on the filling first, boiling the potatoes, onions and grating the cheese, then combining all the ingredients and making the delicious filling. Pixie had to fend Tig off with a spoon as he kept trying to eat the filling instead of finding the pastry page. Between them they began mixing ingredients for the two pastry types whilst they chattered to each other about anything and everything that came to their minds. Occasionally, Pixie would give Tig a tip or direction for his pastry, and bolstered his confidence in his cooking ability. Tig had to admit, working with Pixie was one of the easiest things in the world, she was a team player for sure and he found their cooking session relaxing. He found this especially surprising as Tig's cooking sessions usually went with him burning at least one ingredient, swearing profusely throughout and eventually giving up, throwing the whole thing out and ordering chinese takeout. When everything was combined, and safely in the oven to cook for an hour, they piled the dishes into the sink.

"Let's take a break from cooking, the kitchen's heating up really fast." Pixie suggested as she climbed up onto the worktop, unlatching and opening the window.

"If you're too warm, why don't we go for a swim?" Tig replied, automatically putting his arms around Pixie's waist and lifting her off the counter.

"In the river?"  
"Course, I'll keep you safe, doll." Tig kissed her forehead.

"You just want to see me half-naked." Pixie joked playfully.

"Well, I'd prefer you full-naked..." Tig pretended to contemplate it, sending Pixie into a fit of giggles as she swatted at his chest.

"Tiggy!" She squealed at him. "Besides, I'm not a strong swimmer, it's a little harder with one foot, and I'm not sure about the current."

"It's pretty slow by the cabin, Jax and Opie used to swim it all the time as kids, so you should be fine, and like I said, you got me, baby. Besides, you said you've been missing the water." Tig reminded her, gently trying to persuade her.

"Okay, okay. We can do it. I just get a little antsy when I know my legs are gonna be on show. You know, I haven't worn shorts that go higher than my knees since the amputation. Just the thought of someone else seeing the scars from the surgery and Jimmy makes me feel uncomfortable and like I have to apologise for 'em, 'coz I know they ain't pretty to look at." Pixie confessed. The growl Tig let out was something Pixie had only ever heard him make during combat. He grabbed her hand, towing her into the bedroom. "Tiggy?" Pixie squealed as he lifted her up and dropped her onto the bed, untying her boots and slipping them off, doing the same to his before jumping on as well. He sat in between her legs, gently pushing Pixie to lay back when she tried to sit up and began running his hands slowly up the outside of them, gently squeezing as he reached her hips. The look on Tig's face was complex as his icy blues shined intently. He looked mad, yet his features were soft, reassuring Pixie that he wasn't angry at her.

"You _never_ have to say 'sorry' for the way you look, doll." Tig said after a moment, trying hard to gather his words. He let out another growl. "I don't ever want to hear you talk down about yourself again, you hear me? You are the most beautiful chick I've ever seen, and I'm gonna take it on as my responsibility to make you believe that, baby girl." Tig said fiercely. His lips crashed down on Pixie's and she tangled her fingers in his curls as her mind whirled. She was overcome by the fierce acceptance from Tig, and the love that he felt for her. He pulled back slowly from her, studying Pixie's face.

"Do you trust me?" He said softly, icy blues searching hers.

Pixie nodded. "Without a doubt." She murmured back, stroking the side of his face affectionately. He sat up gently and ran his hands down her toso, like he was trying to memorise every part of her. His hands reached the waistband of her jeans and toyed with the button in a silent question. Pixie nodded, knowing Tig would rather die than hurt her. Tig undid her jeans and then slowly and carefully took them off of her, helping to free them from her prosthetic. He then carefully took off Pixie's prosthetic recalling how she did it from the mornings and evenings they'd spent together. Pixie stared wide-eyed up at him as he captured her right knee and kissed it. She giggled, feeling his rough beard brush against her skin.

"This knee is beautiful." Tig crooned, softly but firmly, leaving no room for questions. He then moved his hand along it, tracing the scars the doctors made, desperately trying to save as much of Pixie's leg as they could. He silently thanked them, knowing they did everything they could for her, so Pixie would be able to walk again, and to continue beating the odds. He kissed each and every scar he found there. Memorising the map they made, and the story of survival that they told. He moved up to Pixie's thigh, kissing the stretch marks from growing into the gorgeous woman she was, and the little marks there from rambunctious childhood accidents. "This thigh is beautiful too." He caught Pixie's wide eyes as she gazed up at him in amazement. "Say it back to me, darlin'." He leant forward and stroked her cheek.

"My thigh..." Pixie trailed off, not quite managing to bring the words forward.

"Is what, sweetheart?"

"B-beautiful." Pixie managed, reaching up so she could bring Tig closer to her for comfort. "My thigh is beautiful."

"Good girl." Tig purred, kissing her neck. "Now the rest of your leg."

"My knee and stump, they're...beautiful too." Pixie felt happy tears in her eyes as she heard the words leave her mouth. She'd never been able to say those words before.

"Again." Tig nodded, wiping away her tears.

"My leg is beautiful." Pixie said with a giggle of excitement at her breakthrough.

"Exactly!" Tig exclaimed, making her laugh more. He kissed her tenderly, then moved back to kiss her right leg again, making a trail of kisses across it until Pixie started to squirm as his beard tickled her.

"I love you, Alex." Pixie glowed up at him.

"I love you too, Meggie. I love every part of you, doll." Tig stated as he captured Pixie's left ankle lifting her leg off of the bed and kissing her there.

"That tickles!" Pixie exclaimed, trying to pull her leg from Tig's grip, but to no avail as he chuckled and kissed it again, looking at the little scars and marks left there from day-to-day life and the bumps and scrapes that went along with it.

"This ankle is beautiful." He told her. "Let me hear you say it, darlin'."

"My ankle's beautiful." Pixie whispered back. The grin on Tig's face that appeared made the butterflies in her stomach come to life as she recognised an overwhelming sense that Tig was proud of her. He moved up and kissed her shin and calf muscles, loving how silky soft Pixie's caramel skin was, tracing the muscle lines showing how athletic Pixie was.

"This shin and calf is beautiful." Tig crooned, kissing another trail across it.

"My shin and calf are beautiful." Pixie echoed, finding it easier to say, she smiled, watching Tig handle her so delicately and with such love and care. He moved to her knee, kissing the scars he found there.

"Can you guess what I think of this knee?" He teased her, swiping his thumb gently over her skin in a soothing pattern.

"I dunno." Pixie said with a shrug and a grin to tease him back. Tig flopped down on top of her, kissing her before pulling back with a chuckle.

"C'mon cheeky, answer the question." Tig chided playfully.

"You think it's beautiful?" Pixie responded, reaching up to stroke Tig's shoulders.

"Right on. Now you say it, baby."

"My knee's beautiful." Pixie looked up into Tig's bright blue eyes as he beamed down at her and kissed her forehead before pulling back.

"Good girl." Tig praised as he moved to her thigh where Jimmy's scars stood prominently out against the smooth skin of pixie's thigh. Tig felt a sense of deep anger towards a man he'd never met. A man so cruelly insane that he brought a group of fourteen year old girls into a world they should have never known even existed, killing two and leaving Pixie to suffer the consequences of his actions. Tig furiously kissed and stroked Pixie's thigh, tracing his fingers over all the marks he found there. "I hate what that asshole did to you, but it doesn't stop your thigh from being beautiful. These scars are just the same as any other. They don't define you." Tig soothed, gently tugging Pixie's arm away from her face. She'd hidden behind it as soon as Tig touched her thigh, not wanting to see his reaction. "Chibs is right, all these scars mean, is that you were stronger than the things that hurt you, darlin'." Tig continued, reaching down to caress Pixie's face.

Pixie nodded. "Chibs is usually right." She let out a small laugh to lighten the mood.

"I love your thigh, it's beautiful, just like the rest of you." Tig said firmly. "Can you tell me that?" Tig asked softly. Pixie bit her lip, she'd never been able to accept the scars Jimmy left behind. Tig gently tugged her bottom lip out from her teeth with his thumb and kissed her passionately. "C'mon, give it a try, sweetheart."

"My thigh..." Pixie trailed off as fresh tears started to appear in her eyes. Tig nuzzled her and wiped away the ones that fell. Pixie could feel the love he had for her radiating off of him and she became determined not to let him down. "My thigh is beautiful." She choked out, completely taken aback that she'd managed to get the words out. Tig grinned down at her triumphantly, kissing her again.

"I'm so proud of you, baby girl. I love you so much." Tig crooned.

"I love you so much too. No one's ever done this with me before." Pixie confessed.

"Well now it's my job, and I'll do this with you for as long as it takes to make you believe in yourself, and then I'll continue to do it because it gives me a chance to get my hands on your sexy body." Tig winked flirtatiously making Pixie laugh as she playfully swatted at him. He rubbed his calloused hands over her thighs as he captured Pixie's mouth in a kiss. She felt heat starting to radiate through her due to his ministrations and Pixie let out a little hum in pleasure against his lips.

"I think we'd better finish getting changed before we get too sidetracked." Tig said as he pulled away a little. "I should check how the pie's doing too, but there's something more delicious here." He joked, leaning down and gently kissing and nibbling Pixie's thigh.

"Go and check, silly." Pixie giggled, gently pushing Tig away, he chuckled and got up, kissing her before striding off to the kitchen. Pixie lay on the bed with a huge grin on her face as she thought about what Tig had just done for her. The butterflies were very much still in effect and Pixie could still feel the sensation of Tig's hands on her skin, it made her feel warm and glowy, and she felt a dopey grin spread across her face. Pixie rolled off the bed and pulled her shirt off, undoing her bra and then searching for the blue sports bra she'd decided could double as a bikini top. Rough hands suddenly grabbed her waist and Pixie let out a surprised yelp, before realising it was Tig as he rested his chin on her shoulder so he could nuzzle her neck. "You spooked me." Pixie giggled, her breath catching in her throat as Tig's hands slid upwards, capturing her breasts and gently kneading them as she leant back against him.

"Payback for when you spooked me earlier." Tig chuckled as he gently nipped at Pixie's skin with his teeth, making her melt under him.

Pixie let out a soft moan. "I do believe, Trager, that that was payback for when you tickle-attacked me on the couch."

"You got me." Tig chuckled, watching Pixie's face blush as he gently tugged at her sensitive nubs, groaning at the way they peaked under his touch, so responsive just for him. "Does that feel good, kitten?"

Pixie nodded, gasping a little, her hands reaching up to gently tug on his curls. "For someone who wants to go swimming, you seem to be enjoying distracting me from getting ready." Pixie teased.

"I'm a simple man, I see my angel practically naked, I have to touch." Tig joked back, kissing Pixie's cheek before slowly releasing her. "Pie's done, I've taken it out before we go to the river, just in case we get sidetracked." Tig explained as he pulled his shirt off over his head and immediately felt small hands roam along his exposed skin, heading straight for the sensitive patch on his ribs. "Point in case." He laughed as Pixie tickled him there and he grabbed a hold of her hands.

"Yeah, we don't seem to be pretty good at keeping to a specific task when we're around each other." Pixie agreed, kissing Tig's chest whilst he took off his rings and remaining cuff. The feeling of her soft lips against his skin made him sigh in content and he rolled his shoulders, feeling any residing tenseness leaving them. Whilst Tig had been in the kitchen, his mind had wandered to the Sons back at the club, wondering what they were up to and what shit they'd managed to get into, but as soon as Pixie touched him, he felt all that melting away and his world centring back on her. She nibbled on his skin, her fingers stroking his chest hair and playfully licked a stripe up his bicep just to make him laugh.

"Hey, quit licking me, rascal." He playfully chided, grinning as Pixie mock-pouted and let go of him to grab her sports bra, slipping it on, he watched her as she shimmied it down and smoothed out the straps. Tig undid his jeans and belt, sliding them off with his socks, catching Pixie watching him with a sparkle of lust in her eyes. Tig put his clothes on the bed and walked over to her, loving how Pixie automatically reached for him, looping her arms around his neck as he lifted her. There was an internal battle of wills inside of Tig as half of him wanted to blow the whole river trip off and make out with Pixie in the bed, but the other half knew they both needed to blow off steam and just have fun doing something different, so he carried her out of the bedroom and through the cabin to the open back door. He reached the path leading down to the small wooden pier, carrying Pixie in his arms as she nibbled at his neck, giggling when Tig groaned in response. He set her down at the edge of the pier, then dove into the water, coming up for air a second later, wiping his curls back from his face.

"C'mon baby! Jump in." Tig called to Pixie, opening his arms out wide for her. Pixie hopped to the edge and jumped with an enthusiastic squeal. The water was a cold shock, but pleasant against the afternoon California heat. As she came up to the surface, Pixie felt Tig's strong arms wrap around her, helping her stay afloat, his legs making powerful kicking motions in the water. Pixie pushed her hair out of her face and broke away from him and swam a little further away, getting used to being in the water. Tig swam effortlessly through the water beside her like he was born to do it and Pixie couldn't help but notice him smirk as he watched her enthusiastic doggy paddle.

"I can see you judging me." She pouted as he passed her.

"I'm not, you're just cute." Tig grinned, turning to swim back the other way, lapping Pixie.

"I'm doing my best. Some of us aren't good swimmers like you." I grumbled.

"I guess that's true." Tig said cockily, teasing Pixie. She scoffed and splashed him full in the face as he swam past.

Tig gasped and laughed in surprise. "Oh, I'm gonna get you for that!" He grinned mischievously before diving under the water and disappearing from view.

"No!" Pixie squealed, splashing frantically trying to get away whilst giggling, which proved more difficult than she expected. Tig suddenly burst up in front of her with a roar, scooping Pixie up and throwing her up into the air and into the water. She came up gasping and giggling.

"You're so mean!"

"Am not!" Tig chuckled as she leapt at him, splashing him with water.

"Are too!" Pixie argued playfully back, wrapping her arms around his neck so they were face to face. Tig had a huge grin on his face and I could tell he was enjoying himself.

"You take that back missy." He said in a fake stern voice before nuzzling his nose against Pixie's in an Eskimo kiss. "Or I might just have to throw you in again."

Pixie clung to him tighter. "No! Don't you dare."

"I do dare, in fact, I'm going to count from three, and if I don't hear an apology I'll throw you even higher." He challenged her.

Pixie's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't."

"Three!" Tig announced.

"Don't do it!"

"Two!"

"Tiggy!"

"On-"

Pixie cut him off just as she felt him start to lift her, she clung to Tig for dear life. "I'm sorry! I take it back, I take it back!" Pixie yelped, laughing.

"There we go! Was that so hard?" Tig chuckled, kissing her on the forehead.

"Yeah!" She pouted back at him as she broke free from him swimming away to the pier where she hauled herself out of the water, and scrambled to get up. "Because you're a meaniebutt!" Pixie called out with a playful grin and hopped for her life up the pier and onto the grass verge. She heard a growl from behind her and the sound of something big lurching out of the water. "Oh you better run, doll!" Tig called out to her, causing Pixie's heart to flutter in her chest. She knew the race wouldn't end well for her, but she was having too much fun teasing Tig, and from the chuckles, Tig wasn't about to complain. Pixie could hear him behind her as she reached a thick oak tree. Pixie dived around it just as Tig caught up to her. Pixie moved to one side of the tree trunk and Tig peered round at her from the other side. They stopped in a standoff like two cowboys at high noon.

"You're so naughty today." Tig laughed.

Pixie stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm having fun." She quipped back.

"So am I." Tig grinned. "Now c'mere so I can throw you in the river." He growled playfully.

"No! You'll have to catch me first." Pixie giggled suddenly, turning away from the trunk and hopping quickly in the opposite direction to Tig. She'd given herself a head start as Tig had to run round the trunk, but he was quickly gaining speed. Pixie hopped towards the riverbank just as two strong arms grabbed her and scooped her up bridal style.

"Got you." Tig chuckled triumphantly.

Pixie struggled against him but was no match for his grip on her. "Put me down you big goof!" Pixie grumbled playfully.

"Nope, not until you apologise properly for being such a tease."

"Why should I, when I know you love it?" Pixie said smiling flirtily up at him.

"Because you're still being bad." Tig growled, a huge silly grin on his face.

"Says the guy trying to throw me in." Pixie pouted at him, wrapping her arms around his neck to kiss him.

He kissed her back gently, before straightening up. "That doesn't sound like an apology." Tig tutted. "The river it is." He said before striding down the pier towards the river.

"Tiggy no!" Pixie squealed and fought against him.

"Still no apology."

"Tiggy!" Pixie squeaked as she was suddenly launched into the deep water with a splash before Tig jumped in after her. He landed close by Pixie and was quick to pull her into his arms, helping Pixie swim to the surface. They broke through and Pixie took in a big gulp of air, feeling worn out from all the excitement and the chasing. Tig watched Pixie and smiled.

"You ready to give up yet, doll?"

"For now, though this isn't over. I'm gonna get you back." Pixie teased, gently biting Tig's ear.

Tig laughed as he pulled Pixie round the back of him and tucked her arms around his shoulders. "Can't wait, darlin'."

"You're never gonna see me coming." Pixie teased.

"Oh a sneak attack?" Tig smiled. "I'll have to keep an eye on you, angel. Now hold on tight and I'll tow you round for a bit. I can tell you're worn out."

"Then can we go get a snack and snuggle up?"

"Sure thing, princess, If you're ready for lunch, how about we have that pie?" Tig commented as he began to swim further downstream.

"Yeah, that sounds good, are you hungry too?"

"I'm always hungry, angel." Tig teased.

"You really are a big wolf. Always hungry, grumpy and overprotective, but secretly cuddly and a big lovable softie."

Tig looked over his shoulder at her and smiled. "I like that, I think you'd be a kitten. All cute, playful and silly, but you're not defenceless with your little claws, you know how to stand up for yourself." Tig thought aloud, he sounded proud of her.

"I really like that thought." Pixie giggled and kissed his cheek. They were silent for a bit as Tig towed Pixie along through the water, listening to the natural sounds around them, and basking in the peacefulness of it all. "Tiggy?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"I... I just want to make sure that you know you can always tell me to stop, like if I tease too much or I say something that strikes a nerve. I would never, ever want to hurt you. That's why I use lame kid insults and stuff so you know I'm not serious." Pixie said quietly, suddenly becoming anxious.

Tig stopped swimming immediately and reached behind him to grab Pixie, pulling her gently in front of him so he could see her face and put his hands on her waist.

"Hey, hey, hey." He hushed gently. "Where's all this coming from? Of course I know you're just being silly, and I'm definitely having fun too, I haven't laughed this much all week. I love you and everything about you, angel, and I love it when you tease me and call me out because it means you're not scared or intimidated by me and can truly be yourself around me. And I find it sexy as hell." Tig soothed, with a raunchy smile.

Pixie's cheeks were reddening at the way he spoke about her and she felt like putty in his strong arms."I don't think I've ever been intimidated or scared by you, Alex. I love you so much, and I love how playful we are with each other too." Pixie smiled in relief. "I honestly never thought I'd find someone like you, someone who can keep up with all my mischief and craziness, and compliments it with their own. And on top of that, they're a Son _and_ happen to be ridiculously sexy." Pixie ended with a giggle, leaning forward and kissing him. Tig's hand tangled in her hair as he pulled Pixie closer and deepened the kiss. Eventually they broke away and Pixie felt like she was floating on cloud nine.

"Are you kidding me? I'm the one that got the lucky break and got a gorgeous little sex kitten." Tig growled playfully kissing Pixie before tucking her behind him and towed them towards the pier. He helped Pixie climb out and they made their way to where there was a storage box of towels on the back porch. Tig unclipped the lid and pulled a big white towel out, shaking it and then wrapping Pixie up as she shivered a little. He towelled himself off with a second one, then scooped Pixie up, bridal style.

"We should take a shower, get clean and dry, then grab food." Tig suggested.

"We? Are you suggesting we shower together?" Pixie teased him.

"Oh, I am now, darlin'." Tig growled making a hard right into the bathroom.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

**What do you guys think of the advancing relationship between Tig and Pixie? I really hope you like this chapter!**

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	47. First Time

**(Song below is "Make Love Like a Man" by Def Leppard as mentioned in the chapter below)**

**<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP5jL42Til4> **

**Maaaajor smut in this chapter ;)**

Pixie pulled one of Tig's white t-shirts over the top of her fresh red lingerie set, she felt too warm to get dressed fully and if Tig had anything to do with it, Pixie would be losing clothing faster than she'd be able to put them back on. She smiled to herself as she finished drying her hair and tying it up into a high ponytail, she could still feel Tig's rough roaming hands on her skin from their shower together. It had quickly become steamy in more than one sense and they'd both explored each other's bodies with their hands, under the pretense of getting themselves clean. Tig had been excited to discover Pixie's hidden tattoo of a single red rose with a green stem on her left hip, covering it with kisses and deeming it his favourite out of all of Pixie's ink. They'd briefly discussed the prospect of having sex for the first time, and Tig had told Pixie to let him know when she was truly ready as he didn't want to rush or influence her. Pixie had agreed, loving how he'd left the ball in her court, rather than trying to push her one way or the other. She'd encountered pushy people in the past, mostly in nightclubs and it always irritated her and those encounters usually ended in punches being thrown. Pixie pushed those idiots from her mind and focused on her man. Tig had opted to pull on a pair of jeans and no shirt and had gone to the kitchen, putting lunch together whilst Pixie finished getting ready. She pulled on her prosthetic, so she'd be able to get around easier, not that she doubted Tig wouldn't pick her up at the first chance he got. She went to the doorway leaning against the frame to watch Tig move around in the main room, he had a ceramic duckling in his hands from one of the knick-knack shelves and was turning it over in his grip absent-mindedly. As he turned to put it back, he caught sight of Pixie watching him with a little smile on her face. He strode towards her, the afternoon sun glinting off of the thick silver necklace chain with his signature silver spiral pendant that had little spines coming off of it, reminding Pixie of the patterns she'd seen from the ammonite fossils at Lyme Regis Bay during a rare holiday trip with Bruce.

"Hey baby." He smiled down gently, Pixie grasped his necklace chain and gently tugged on it so he stooped down for a kiss. "Is that my shirt?"

Pixie nodded, hands roaming Tig's chest. "Not like you were gonna wear it anyways."

Tig chuckled and Pixie watched his face change, loving the way his nose scrunched a little with his eyes, glittering with his laugh. "True, I got lunch ready, pie looks good." He commented, putting his hands on Pixie's shoulders, then travelling them down her body, coming to rest on her ass. "Though you look better."

Pixie blushed as she felt him knead her butt. "Could say the same thing about you." Pixie flirted back, feeling flushed under Tig's ministrations. "Let's go eat before you get side-tracked." She reminded him, Tig reluctantly let go and moved to the side to let Pixie pass, only to deliver a rough slap to her backside as Pixie sashayed past him.

She let out a little squeal. "Tiggy!" She pretended to scold him, but the look in Pixie's eyes said she was very much enjoying what he was up to. Tig followed her into the kitchen, watching the way Pixie swayed her hips as she walked, it sent heat coursing through his veins and Tig had to hold his tongue so he didn't let out a groan. Pixie filled up two glasses of water and put them down on the table as Tig sat down next to his plate, then pulled hers over to his direction too, before finally grabbing Pixie as she approached the table and pulled her into his lap. "Can't keep your hands off me?" Pixie giggled, stroking the side of Tig's face.

"Never, baby." Tig nuzzled her neck, making Pixie squirm a little before turning his attention to the meal in front of him. He tucked in, wolfing down half of it before Pixie had even gotten through a quarter, she watched him with an amused smile on her face.

"Breathe, Trager, don't particularly feel like giving you the Heimlich." She giggled. Tig made a show of rolling his eyes and took a sip of water.

"S'cuse me for enjoying your cooking." He huffed light-heartedly, kissing Pixie's cheek. "Sure beats the stuff I usually make."

Pixie took a bite and swallowed. "Like what? You gotta cook for me sometime." Pixie said eagerly.

Tig chuckled. "You put too much faith in me, baby. I can make burnt pasta and that's about it."

Pixie thought for a moment. "Why don't we make cooking together a more regular thing? It was really fun and I could teach you some of the stuff I know."

"Well, once I got my place painted and stuff, we'll move you in and we can cook together every night we're home together." Tig put in, giving Pixie a playful bounce on his knee.

"You asking me to move in with you?" Pixie blushed, feeling a little jolt of excitement.

"Eventually, yeah, that house has always felt empty, so it'll be nice to see you in it. Also means we get to do this more." Tig said, gesturing vaguely to Pixie and the meal, and she got what he meant, spending time together outside of the club, focusing on just making each other happy and shutting the world out for a while.

"I'd like that. If you need help with plastering or anything, I'm your girl, Bruce taught me after he got tired of patching up the holes in the walls."

Tig cocked an eyebrow. "Wouldn't it've been better to get you a punching bag?"

"Oh we had one, but old habits die hard. I grew up seeing him put his fist through the walls when he wasn't happy, and I guess it kinda rubbed off on me. Don't worry though, I haven't punched a wall in a while." Pixie explained.

Tig chuckled. "I get you, I have a fist hole in my kitchen."

"What caused that?" Pixie asked, stroking Tig's cheek.

"I was wildly drunk, so I don't really remember... club business probably." Tig confessed, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Okay, maybe we don't get you drunk." Pixie giggled playfully.

"Oh, I can hold my liquor, I was just really pissed off." Tig reiterated with a smile. "You ever been drunk?"

"Oh yeah, I'd had alcohol at Sons parties and the odd nightclub I snuck into when I was around sixteen, sixteen was a wild year for me in general, but I straightened out at seventeen after I got my license officially and started taking the club seriously."

Tig finished his plate and sat back, studying Pixie as she took a sip of water. "Why was it wild?"

"Well, fifteen was the year of recovery for me, getting used to my new life with one and half legs and recovering from the trauma. Then I hit sixteen and just had this mad year of self-discovery and being as wild and rebellious as I could. I got prospected in, and next thing I know I'm hot-wiring cars, acting as a decoy for the club and finally being invited to their infamous parties. I'd hit the nightclubs, beat up any creep trying to take advantage of people and mainly just got flat out drunk, dancing on bar tops and earning a reputation as this loose cannon kid. Got arrested a couple of times for stupid stuff too."

Tig chuckled, imagining an even wilder version of Pixie than the one that was sat in his lap and shook his head. "Damn, and we thought you were a loose cannon now."

Pixie scoffed, finishing her plate. "If you think I'm chaotic now, I think I would've sent you all to an early grave back then." Pixie giggled. "Like, I remember, me and this other prospect, Sammy, he was like my ride or die buddy, did anything I told him to. We were bored one night and decided to go looking for trouble, we went out of town, he was around nineteen when this went down, so he had his license, and I would sit behind him on his bike. We ended up going to this seedy neighbourhood and found a nasty drug gang, one the Sons had had issues with before. These were really bad guys, beating up innocents and just making people's lives a living hell. So Sammy and I decided to take things into our own hands." Pixie smirked, reliving the memory.

"Oh no, I know that look, what did you do, doll?" Tig asked, eyes wide.

"We, um, we set their van on fire, it had all their bricks inside, or at least a large chunk. I know 'coz we checked before doing it. The van just went up like it was made of paper and the next thing we know, Sammy and I are booking it down the main street with about ten angry druggies storming behind us. We'd parked his bike pretty much all the way across town, novice move, I know. But we were just starting out. Luckily I had my running blade on so I was able to go faster."

Tig rubbed his temples, getting anxiety for a couple of kids he hadn't known. "Shit, baby."  
"I know, it was unbelievably stupid, but we were kids with nothing to lose." Pixie chuckled. "As we rounded a bend, Sammy and I realised we messed up and hit a dead end, so we ended up having to crush ourselves behind a skip and hold our breath. Sammy and I had Nokia bricks, and we realised he had a stupid ringtone on it that sounded like police sirens, so Sammy slid his phone across the alleyway towards the road, seconds before the gang reached us, and then I called his phone. The sirens went off and the druggies scattered immediately, completely falling for it. We got out of there as soon as possible, reaching his bike and then jetting home. We get there and act as if nothing happened. The rest of the Sons didn't find out about our little incident until the news broke about the van fire and how a couple of the gang members still at the scene had been arrested. We got raked over the coals for that one, but it didn't stop us for long."

"I swear to god if you pull a stunt like that now." Tig trailed off, hands going to Pixie's waist.

She laughed. "I promise, I'm not that stupid anymore, Like I said, I straightened out at seventeen, I took things more seriously, actually used my brain for once and focused on being there for my brothers. Though I still do have my chaotic tendencies."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Tig growled playfully. Pixie kissed him before gathering the plates and putting them in the sink, Tig was quick to follow her with the glasses, putting them in too as Pixie put the plug in and turned on the taps. Tig's hands found their way to Pixie hips before snaking down lower to her ass again and Pixie blushed, looking up at him with a coy smile.

"Whilst we're waiting for the sink to fill, why don't you put some music on? Cabin's a little too quiet." Pixie suggested. Tig nodded in agreement and wandered out to the main room to fiddle with the stereo, she watched him go, studying the way Tig moved, how his broad, muscular shoulders rippled as he lazily stretched. She'd never seen Tig this fully relaxed, and Pixie hoped she could keep him that way for a long as possible. They both needed this break more than anything, and for the first time in a long time, Pixie realised she didn't feel quite so heavy. She wasn't thinking about the club, or Highton or Jimmy, she'd left all those feelings somewhere along the road to the cabin. She smiled as the first notes of "Paradise City" by Guns 'N' Roses started up and Tig reappeared doing a silly little dance that made Pixie giggle.

"Should've guessed You'd find the GNR stash." Pixie said, copying Tig's dance as she turned the tap off.

"Of course, can't do chores without 'em. I'll wash, you dry, baby." Tig kissed her temple. Pixie nodded and picked up the drying towel, watching Tig scrub the dishes from the baking session and lunch, and a mischievous idea crept into her mind. She spun the towel around on itself and then whipped it out, smacking Tig square on the ass with it, he yelped, dropped the sponge in surprise and gave a bark of laughter. "Naughty little girl." He pretended to scold Pixie, but couldn't keep from smiling at her cheeky face.

"What're you gonna do about it?" Pixie challenged him with a little wink.

Tig spun Pixie around, delivering a swat to her ass with his hand and Pixie squealed, giggling. "That's what I'm gonna do about it." Tig growled into her ear, nipping at her lobe as one hand came up to gently rest on her neck, whilst the other travelled south to smooth over where he'd just spanked her. Pixie's heart was thumping wildly in her chest, full of excitement as she looked up at Tig, and stuck her tongue out at him.

"If that's what I get when I'm naughty, I think I ought to do it more often." Pixie teased, feeling confident in Tig's arms as she playfully wriggled her hips against his thighs.

Tig let out a little groan. "What did I do to deserve you?" He crooned, turning Pixie around in his arms and lifting her up onto the counter so they could see eye to eye.

"I could ask the same thing." Pixie kissed his cheek. "We got distracted again." She giggled, pointing to the sink full of soap dishes.

"I'm blaming you for this one, doll." Tig chuckled. "You better stay up there to dry dishes, keeps you out of mischief, and me out of dish towel whipping range." Tig ordered playfully. Pixie stuck her tongue out at him again and this time he crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her right back. Pixie laughed so hard she gave a little snort which sent them both into a light-hearted hysterics. Tig put his hands on the edge of the sink to prop himself up as he doubled over laughing.

"That was one of the cutest sounds I think I've ever heard you make." He smirked once he caught his breath.

"So attractive, I know." Pixie said sarcastically as she finished wiping a dinner plate. "I've only ever done that once before in front of you, I hoped I wouldn't do it again."

"At the hill we raced on, I remember." He teased. "And for the record, I find it very attractive, baby."

"Glad you think so, Opie's the only other person that's been able to make me laugh so hard I snorted, it was due to his dancing at the Elvis stall."

"What was his response?" Tig chuckled.

"He laughed so hard he almost flattened the kids dancing behind him." Pixie grinned. "Thought I was gonna have to yell 'timber'!"

Tig chuckled, handing her the clean mixing bowl. "What do you wanna do after we get all this cleaned up, kitten?"

Pixie thought for a moment. "Let's dance around, now I've had food, I'm feeling jittery and a little hyper again."

Tig smiled. "I can tell." He said gesturing to where Pixie was bouncing her leg against the counter and her fingers were fiddling with the label on the towel.

Pixie looked down and realised what she was doing. "Oh, yeah." She said with a little laugh. "I got labelled with ADHD when I was around five or so, Bruce couldn't work out why I was so on the go and hard to control compared to Nickie and Piper."

Things clicked into place for Tig, finally understanding more of Pixie's personality. "That makes sense, what does it do aside from the hyperness and the impulsiveness?"

"I can talk for England to just about anybody. I'm not good at paying attention unless I really need to, like if I'm in a situation where I need to be observant, other than that I just want to go, go go. I used to be really bad with that, I'd just zone out on conversations because I got distracted or they were taking too long, but I'm better now. I worked a lot on my patience, I used to get so jumpy and agitated if I had to wait for anything, but now I usually do something else whilst I'm waiting. I'm the worst at organisation though, which is why my bag's essential to me as I always try not to unpack it and keep my important stuff in there. Though you should see me try to unpack when we go home, I can guarantee it'll take me like over an hour to do half." Pixie explained, liking how she was able to open up to Tig about this side of her that she usually tried to keep under wraps.

"I'll help you, darlin'. If anything, I think all this is just endearing, like when you get so excited you can't contain it and just bounce around or jump up for hugs." Tig told her, making mental notes to keep an eye on Pixie and try and help when she struggled to pay attention or got distracted. "Is that why the shopping trip went so awry?"

Pixie giggled. "With you, yeah, 'coz we kept stopping and then I was already hyped at the prospect of spending time with you, and then the store had so much cool stuff it was hard not to wander."  
"Did you do the same to Happy?" Tig asked her as he finished the washing.

"Nah, Happy was as impulsive as me, just grabbed whatever I looked at immediately so I didn't have time to lose interest and if I did start to wander, he just grabbed me, or hauled me back to wherever he wanted me to be."

Tig chuckled. "I'll remember that for next time."

Pixie finished drying and the pair of them put the dishes back into the correct places before Pixie bounced over to the stereo and started looking through the CDs.

"What mood are you in? I feel like we should give Axl a rest and try someone new." Pixie asked as Tig strode up behind her, his hands automatically going to Pixie's hips and squeezing slightly.

"Hmmm, how about..." Tig trailed off, fingers running along the CD stacks as he read the labels. "Def Leppard, best hits." Tig pulled the CD out and passed it to Pixie. A huge grin spread across her face.

"Hell yeah! I love them!" Pixie said eagerly with a little jump of anticipation that made Tig smile as he pulled Guns 'N' Roses out mid 'November Rain' and put the new CD in. Pixie ducked under his arms and pushed the coffee table to one side of the room so they'd have more room to dance with each other as the first notes of "Love Bites" started up. Tig went to where Pixie was standing swaying, she reached for him putting her hands on his shoulders as he put his on her waist and they swayed together, just enjoying the feeling of touching each other and being close, listening to the track. When the chorus hit, Pixie couldn't help but sing along to it, whilst Tig kissed her neck and smiled, listening to her voice. He'd missed hearing her sing, it was such a happy sound that made him feel calm and content. The song ended soon after and there was a brief pause before "Pour Some Sugar On Me" began and Pixie squealed.

"I love this song!" Pixie exclaimed breaking from Tig to jump up onto the couch like it was a makeshift stage and began singing along more passionately, swaying her hips, fingers tangling in her hair as she let loose. Tig watched her in awe, he'd seen dozens of exotic dancers in his time, and too many strippers to count, but Pixie dancing in nothing but his t-shirt and a red lingerie set, bouncing around on the old couch was somehow sexier than anything he'd seen before. He put it down to how much Pixie was enjoying herself, just in her element and totally relaxed. She suddenly jumped off the couch towards him and he caught her, dancing with Pixie in his arms as they laughed and jammed out together. Pixie went back to dancing on the couch for a couple more songs until she suddenly got an idea, she jumped down towards the end of one song and grabbed Tig's hand, towing him from where he'd been rocking out in the middle of the room, to a plaid La-Z-Boy seat and pushed him down into it.

"What're you up to, angel?" He asked her. Instead of replying, Pixie gave him a wink and scooted over to where there was a brown throw blanket tossed over one arm of the couch, she unfolded and wrapped it around her so her whole body was covered. Pixie walked back over just as the next song started, 'Make Love Like A Man'. She swayed to the beat from side to side and then revealed one shoulder, rolling it and turning around on the spot, lowering it slightly more as her second shoulder was revealed. Tig went to reach for her and Pixie wagged a finger at him coyly. It hit Tig suddenly that Pixie was giving him a striptease and he swallowed thickly, totally and utterly surprised. Pixie jiggled her hips and bent over so Tig could see her curves outlined in the blanket, hidden from view, but tantalisingly close. Pixie straightened up and gave him a flirty look over her shoulder before spinning and sticking her right leg out of the slit where the two halves of the blanket were pulled together so Tig could peek at the bare skin of her thigh as she rocked back and forth, dancing and losing herself in the beat. Too soon that silky leg was pulled back in and Tig suppressed a groan as Pixie twirled again, lowering the blanket more and securing it at her waist so it stayed put whilst she danced, using both hands to toy with the hem of the white t-shirt, slowly pulling it up, inch by agonising inch. Tig wasn't sure he'd ever focused on one thing more studiously in his entire life. Pixie well and truly had his attention and goddamn was she killing it. Tig's mouth went dry as the hem of Pixie's red bralette was revealed, it was a lacy number with red trim around the bottom and as Pixie slowly raised the t-shirt higher, he could see little diamonds dotted on the cups and trim which caught the sunlight and Tig felt positively hypnotised. Pixie finally freed herself of the shirt and sassily threw it his way. Tig snatched it out the air and fisted it in one hand, he felt coiled up like a compressed spring as Pixie sashayed around to the beat and ran her hands along her body. To hide his tension, he bounced his leg to the rhythm of the song as Pixie toyed with the blanket edging, before placing her left leg on the coffee table edge and bending over to grasp the bottom edge of the blanket, slowly and seductively sliding it up her leg. As more caramel skin was revealed, Tig thought he was going to swallow his tongue. Pixie could see her dance was affecting her man as his icy blues pierced her with such intensity and passion she had to fight with herself not to blush or throw herself at him until her mission was accomplished. Pixie thought he looked so commanding in the chair, a dominant air to him and a promise of roughness as soon as he was allowed to touch Pixie again. As the song neared his end and Pixie reached her hips with the blanket, she shucked it off, throwing it to the side and dancing towards him, showing off her curves and the red lace panties. When the song hit it's last few notes, Pixie climbed into Tig's lap, straddling him and bit down on his neck in a love bite.

"Holy shit." Tig growled, relieved to be able to touch Pixie again, roughly running his hands along her thighs and up her body. He kissed Pixie and she felt a warmth inside her from Tig's touch and moved against him, rolling her hips against his. "That was so goddamn hot." Tig continued, his patience was hanging on by a thread.

Pixie could tell, and she knew she had him right where she wanted him. And _boy_ , did she want him.

"I need you, Alex." She moaned against his neck. Tig's hands tightened on her waist.

"Baby? Are you sure, because you've gotten me all fired up and there's no holding back if you say yes." Tig put his hands on Pixie's shoulders to pull her upright so he could see her face and look into her lust-filled hazel eyes.

"Yes, Tiggy, I'm sure." Pixie nodded affirmatively, biting her lip as she gave another roll of her hips.

Tig stood up with Pixie in his arms, loving how she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her into the bedroom and laid her down on the big bed. Pixie watched as he undid his jeans, stepping out of them and she caught sight of his black boxers and how his member was straining against them. Pixie reached for her prosthetic, taking it off with Tig's help. Once it was off he kissed all over her right leg, before going to Pixie's left and kissing a trail all the way up from her ankle to her inner thigh where he bit down on the sensitive skin there, sucking on it. Pixie arched her back with a little needy moan before Tig moved up the rose tattoo, giving that a playful kiss and continuing the trail to her stomach, using the opportunity of Pixie's arched back to snake his hands around and undo her bra clasp before she flopped back down, looking up at him with her shining hazel eyes. He took off Pixie's bra completely, throwing it to the side and roughly kneading her breasts much to Pixie's delight. He sucked one nipple into his mouth, nibbling and caressing it with his tongue and teeth whilst he pinched the other one with his finger and thumb. Pixie's head was swimming in pleasure as Tig played with her body. He seemed to instinctively know what Pixie wanted and she squirmed under him, overwhelmed already but desperate for more. Tig switched breasts and smiled as Pixie moaned. Those sounds were so sultry and sexy he thought they ought to be illegal, and seeing as he was an outlaw at heart, Tig was more than happy to hear them. Pixie raked her nails across his back after a particularly hard suck and Tig felt fire in his veins at her touch, he loved how her nails felt against his skin. Eventually Tig pulled his attention away from Pixie's breast and moved up to her neck, one hand going to gently wrap around it as he kissed up from her shoulder to Pixie's jawline and back, biting down on the soft skin of her shoulder and licking a stripe across her collarbone.

"Tiggy!" Pixie gasped, her voice wrecked and needy.

"Right here, kitten, right here." He soothed, his own voice sounding rough and deep. He rolled onto his side, pulling Pixie over with him. Tig put one arm behind her head to cushion it as he pulled her in for a passionate kiss, his other hand caressing her neck and rubbing his thumb across her jawbone. Pixie hummed against him as her hands snaked across his chest, gently scratching him and she took note of the growl he emitted when she did so, it was almost like a pleasure-filled purr. She tangled her legs with his and Pixie couldn't help but let out a moan as Tig's package rubbed up against her crotch. Tig broke the kiss to stare into Pixie's eyes.

"I love you so much, angel." He said breathlessly.

"Love you too." Pixie answered back, pushing Tig onto his back so she could kiss his chest and leave bites of her own whilst she ground against him. Tig lay back in awe at how devilishly good Pixie was making him feel. He let himself bask in it for a moment longer before rolling back over and tucking Pixie under him.

"Have you any thoughts 'bout how you wanna do this, doll?" He asked, trying to get his brain to engage.

"I like it when you're rough with me, so don't hold back." Pixie gasped as Tig ground against her. Her words were music to his ears as he took in what Pixie said.

"I don't wanna hurt you, baby girl. You know the traffic lights thing?"

Pixie nodded. "Red stop, amber, pause, green, go." Pixie recalled in between gasps and moans.

"Good girl." Tig cooed, kissing Pixie's face. "We're gonna use that for now, and see how we go. Next thing I need to know is protection."

"Implant." Pixie moaned at a particularly hard thrust against her core. "Please, Tiggy."

Tig let out a breath of relief, glad to get all that out the way. "Well done, baby. I'm gonna make you feel so good." He growled, extracting himself from Pixie's arms and getting off the bed. Pixie let out a frustrated huff, which Tig found adorable, he reached for her ankle and pulled her down the bed towards him, then knelt down on the floor so he was in between Pixie's legs. He ripped off the red lace in his way and growled when he finally found what he was looking for. Pixie felt his breath against her mound and gave a little surprised squeak.

"Colour?" Tig growled as he bit down on Pixie's right thigh.

"Green." Pixie moaned, she felt so keyed up and tense, desperate for any kind of release, so when she felt Tig's tongue against the skin of her labia she almost jumped up if it weren't for Tig's rough and dominating grip on her hips keeping her firmly in place whilst he began to work his magic. Pixie felt her eyes roll back at the delicious sensation, letting out a little scream as Tig homed in on her clit and suckled hard. " _More_." Pixie whimpered feeling needy and as though she was flying. She felt the vibrations of a chuckle against her clit and her eyes rolled back in delight, her legs beginning to spasm of their own accord. Tig added a finger into the mix, slowly and carefully sliding it into Pixie. Feeling how she tensed, he pulled back and kissed her stomach.

"Breathe kitten, relax." He soothed. "You gotta keep relaxed 'coz if you tense up on me, it'll hurt, and I don't wanna hurt my baby." Tig explained gently, watching Pixie's flushed face for a signal that she was listening.

"Okay, I'll try." Pixie nodded, catching his eye and blushing at how Tig was looking at her with such a hungry gaze, like he hadn't eaten in days and she was a delicious meal, laid out for him. Tig disappeared from view and started up his attention to Pixie's clit again, licking and toying with it before starting to suck again, then she felt his finger slowly starting to enter, Pixie focused on relaxing, keeping her breathing as steady as she could as the foreign feeling of something inside of her quickly turned into intense pleasure as Tig began to pump in and out of her, working Pixie open and crooking his finger, putting pressure on Pixie's G-spot. Pixie let out a moan and a squeal as she felt like she was rocketing towards something, her mind turning fuzzy and she flew over the edge. Pixie's back arched and her vision whited out. She called out Tig's name, her voice feeling distant as intense waves of pleasure rolled over her. Tig continued what he was doing, helping Pixie ride out her orgasm and the aftershocks as her body went rigid and then flopped down onto the bed once more. Once Tig was sure Pixie was through her orgasm, he pulled away and moved to gently lay over her, brushing some of Pixie's hair out of her face as he wiped down his beard and hand on the white t-shirt which hadn't made it off the bed.

"You in there, baby?" Tig kissed Pixie's cheek as her eyes fluttered open, her pupils blown wide.

"Hi." Pixie looked up at him, a big grin on her face, making Tig chuckle. "I think you made me short-circuit."

"You ever orgasmed like that before, darlin'?" Tig smiled as Pixie's hands rubbed his shoulders.

"No, never. You're magic." Pixie giggled. "And sexy."

"Say's you, kitten. You taste so sweet." He growled. "Ready to carry on?"

Pixie nodded eagerly. "I wanna make you feel good." She pushed Tig up and wriggled off of the bed, Tig was quick to catch her as Pixie went weak-kneed with a little gasp. "Okay, you definitely made me short-circuit." Pixie giggled, getting down on her knees. "I wanna do the same to you." Pixie grasped the elastic waistband of Tig's boxers and he groaned.

"Are you sure, baby?" He growled.

"Green all the way, you?" Pixie replied.

"Green, very fucking green." Tig emphasised. "I'll talk you through what to do, doll." He told her, helping Pixie release him from his boxers and stepping out of them. Pixie's stomach tensed as she took in the size and girth of Tig. He was definitely long and thick and Pixie felt a heat pooling between her legs as she took in the sight of it. He sat down on the edge of the bed and Pixie looked up at him lovingly as he stroked her hair. She tentatively stroked his dick, getting used to the feeling of how firm yet soft it was. Tig let out a moan of pleasure and gently guided Pixie on how to hold it correctly and talked her through massaging his balls. Pixie smiled, watching the way Tig leant back on his arms with his head tipped up to the ceiling in pleasure. She bent forwards and licked across the large head. Tig jumped and looked at her wide-eyed.

"Oh, geez baby that felt so good." Tig crooned, going back to stroking Pixie's hair. She did it a second time, but stayed for longer, listening to the groans which turned to pants as Tig felt the waves of pleasure start to come over him. Pixie gently began taking more of him in her mouth, making sure not to scrape it with her teeth, figuring that that was not a good idea. Tig gasped and let out a stream of praise, feeling his mind turn to mush as Pixie sucked what she could fit in her mouth comfortably. She went a little too deep and gagged, pulling back to cough.

"Such a good angel." Tig fussed over her, kissing Pixie. "That felt so good, don't worry about trying to go too deep, don't want you choking as it takes practice to do that properly." Tig assured Pixie, bolstering her confidence and ridding her of any anxieties that she'd done anything wrong. Pixie tried again, this time focusing on just the amount she could reach without hitting her limit and stroked what she couldn't. Tig let Pixie go to town until he was sure he wouldn't be able to hold on much longer, then gently pulled her back. "Time to make us _both_ feel good." He growled, picking Pixie up and throwing her down onto the bed. She giggled as she landed and cheekily tried to crawl away as Tig got on too. He spanked her roughly and then put his weight over Pixie, trapping her under him. "Now where is my little kitten off to?" He growled into her ear playfully, making Pixie squeal.

"Dunno." Pixie giggled breathlessly as Tig started to kiss and bite her shoulders, then adjusted himself, doing the same all the way down Pixie's back whilst his hands kept a grip on her waist, pinning Pixie under him. She moaned out, feeling the heat and tension intensify in her body again.

"Are you gonna be a good angel for me? Or are you gonna be naughty again?" Tig growled as he moved back up to kiss her neck again.

Pixie gasped as she felt Tig thrust against her, feeling his hard member between her thighs. "Good, I'll try." Pixie nodded breathlessly.

Tig let her go so he could turn Pixie onto her back. "Good girl. You're so beautiful." Tig murmured, kissing Pixie before drawing back, he cupped Pixie between her legs, gliding his finger gently through her folds, feeling how wet she was for him. He worked Pixie open again, making sure she was breathing and relaxed against him as he pressed his thumb against her clit, rubbing it in a way that sent Pixie moaning his name as he carefully added a second finger and then a third until Pixie was panting and scratching at him, desperate for more. Tig lined himself up, telling Pixie what he was doing, bringing one of her hands up above her head to link with his so she could squeeze it when he carefully pushed in a little. Pixie whimpered and Tig was quick to stop and kiss her all over her face, distracting her from any pain and making her relax and giggle under him so he could carefully slide in more. They continued like this, agonisingly slow until Tig finally bottomed out with a satisfied moan. Pixie felt so full and her stomach fluttered with lust and need for Tig as she caressed his face and begged him to do more. Tig gave a slow but powerful thrust in and out, checking Pixie's face for any sign of pain.

"Oh! _Tiggy_!" Pixie squealed, gasping in pleasure, her legs going to wrap around him and her hands going to his shoulders. Tig had to focus on not blowing it then and there, the way Pixie said his name sent shivers down his spine and he thought he'd die a happy man if he got to hear her say it again. He began to thrust in and out of Pixie, much to her delighted squeals of 'more'. Tig quickened his pace eagerly, he loved going hard and rough, and from Pixie's flushed and blissed out face, so did she.

"You like this? Or you want it harder?" Tig growled stroking Pixie's face. Her eyes lit up at his words.

"Harder, _Sergeant_." Pixie moaned. Tig lost it at the use of his club title, what little resolve he had left went out the window as he pulled out, flipping Pixie onto her stomach. Tig had to admit, it was probably one of the hottest things Pixie had ever said to him and he was all for encouraging whatever part of Pixie that decided to say those words.

"Hands and knees. Now, baby." He growled, his voice deep and dominating.

Pixie did as she was told, butterflies flitting in her stomach as she felt him looming over her. Tig grabbed her hips and pulled Pixie backwards to the edge of the bed where he stood. Tig lined himself up and reentered, kissing and biting across Pixie's shoulders, listening to her gasp and cry out his name as he straightened up and began to pound into her roughly. Pixie fisted the comforter.

"Don't stop! Tiggy, _please_." Pixie yelped, gasping when Tig spanked her roughly.

Tig slid his hand into Pixie's hair, making sure to go close to the scalp so he didn't hurt her too badly, then using it to pull her up against him roughly.

"What did you call me?" He growled, nuzzling Pixie.

Pixie caught on. "Sergeant, don't stop, please, sergeant!" Pixie gasped, looking up at Tig who grinned triumphantly, letting Pixie move back down onto the bed as he continued, watching his girl shake and moan in pleasure under him. Tig kept up his relentless pace, whilst a litany of praises spilled out of him.

"Such a good angel, gonna make you feel so good." Tig growled out. In the back of his mind he wondered if he was developing a praise kink, especially seeing how Pixie was responding to his words with sweet little moans of her own. Her legs began spasming, letting him know she was close. Tig was nearing the end of his tether too, so he moved his hand around to Pixie's clit and began toying with it.

"Oh, god, yes!" Pixie squealed.

"I'm close now, doll." Tig crooned. "Cum for me baby, I've got you." He soothed as Pixie clenched around him, finding her release and sending Tig over into his as well. His vision went white and he dropped forward, catching himself on his hands either side of Pixie so he didn't crush her as he slowly came around. Pixie moaned out his name as she came down off of her high. Tig carefully pulled out and then collapsed onto the bed, rolling onto his side and pulling Pixie into his arms whilst they both lay there, chests heaving in tandem as they stared up at the ceiling and listened to the Def Leppard CD that was all but forgotten in the other room. Tig reached across and grabbed the tissue box from the nightstand and cleaned himself and Pixie off, still cooing over her whilst she watched him with heavy lidded eyes, completely worn out. Tig felt the same way, but he wanted to make sure aftercare was taken care of before he could totally relax. He disposed of the tissues and came back with a warm wet wash rag and made sure they were both clean, then chugged a glass of water, bringing one for Pixie and helping her sit up to drink before they flopped down again, tangled in each other's arms.

Eventually Pixie came around enough to look up at Tig who was trying to find shapes in the popcorn ceiling.

"I've been told that first times are always crap, but holy fucking shit, _that_ was amazing." Pixie's voice was a little hoarse, making Tig feel smug, not only at her words, but at the memory of Pixie screaming out "sergeant" as she came.

"Glad I could be of service." Tig joked as he kissed her temple. "Honestly, that was amazing for me too. Goddamn you're sexy." He growled. "Though I have questions."

Pixie giggled and looked up at him. "Oh yeah?"

"Where did the 'sergeant' thing come from?" Tig laughed.

"Figured you were a kinky bastard, so I threw it out there to see if that would get you to stop holding back." Pixie smirked, giggling when Tig tickled her.

"Oh, you pulled 'sergeant' out of thin air and _I'm_ the kinky bastard?" He teased. "Besides, I distinctly remember a certain little kitten demanding I go harder and rougher, so I'm not the only kinky one in this relationship." Tig laughed.

"Never said I wasn't." Pixie said with a wink, and if Tig hadn't been so worn out, he would have pounced on her for a second round, desperate to know what other little surprises Pixie had in store for him.

"I freaking love you." Tig chuckled. "Second question, considering you've never had sex before now, how come you wanted it so rough? Most chicks like it soft first time around."

"I freaking love you too." Pixie giggled. "And I'm not most girls. It just felt good, like I could feel you holding back when we were doing it gently and my mind kept wandering, I needed something hard to keep me in one place."

Tig nodded, thinking on Pixie's words. "Makes more sense. Where did your mind go?"  
Pixie giggled. "You're gonna get all growly on me for this," Pixie looked across to see Tig raise an eyebrow, "but I started thinking on how much I'd have to bribe you to let me have a go on your Harley."

Tig propped himself up on his elbow to peer down at Pixie. " _My_ Harley? Why?"

Pixie shrugged. "You've got really cool add ons and you've obviously modded it, so I'm curious to see how the beast runs, whether it's as smooth as mine."  
"I swear to god, if I catch you doing stunts on _my_ bike." Tig growled.

"I won't, I swear!" Pixie squealed as he grasped her breast in his hand, pinching her nipple.

"You swear? I know you too well for that, doll. Why won't you promise me?" Tig growled nuzzling Pixie.

"Well, you never know, an occasion might arise." Pixie teased, Tig pulled back to pin her underneath him, putting her arms above her head. "I'm kidding!" Pixie yelped, laughing as Tig bit down on her shoulder.

"You are such a little tease." Tig chuckled. "And you're coming nowhere near my Harley, if I find you on it I'll spank you." Tig warned.

"Buzzkill." Pixie pretended to pout, knowing just how to push Tig's buttons.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were asking for a spanking right now." Tig warned, mouth twitching as he tried not to smile at Pixie's mischievous little smirk.

"Maybe I am, _sergeant._ " Pixie flirted, then hid a little yawn.

Tig groaned and flopped onto his back, pulling Pixie closer to him so that her front was against his and slapped her ass. "We are both too exhausted for another round, missy, so don't even try that with me, and for the record, you're coming nowhere near my bike unless I'm driving and you're on the back." Tig said firmly. "Now let's cuddle for a little bit, maybe have a nap then go have a snack."

Pixie nodded, wriggling so she could rest her head on his shoulder. "Okay I like that plan, and I like the idea of riding on the back, gives me a good excuse to get my hands on you." Pixie kissed his chest, feeling the heavy feeling of sleep tugging her eyes closed, so she obliged, knowing they were both comfy, safe and content.

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**So this is my first time writing smut, so I guess its a first for me and Pixie, haha. Please let me know what you thought! <3**

****


	48. Trouble Brewing

**Mentions of smut at the start of chapter**

Tig lay outstretched on the couch with Pixie starfished on top of him, the two cuddled under a blanket whilst they watched the film "Rocky" on the TV. They'd spent the rest of the previous day and night napping, eating and having sex. Pixie was unsure of how many rounds they'd actually managed, but it had felt like something had ignited between them after their first round and they couldn't keep their hands to themselves after that. Not that she was complaining, if anything, Pixie felt the exact opposite. Completely satisfied in Tig's arms, listening to Stallone's voice on the TV and watching Tig as he smoked his cigarette and idly watched, eyes not quite seeing the screen. His hand was gently stroking the plane of Pixie's back and she felt like putty under his touch. They'd woken up early, with the first light of dawn, having their last round for the time being before changing the bed sheets and collapsing on the couch, feeling too sleepy to do anything productive, and too wired up to go back to sleep.

"What're you thinking about?" Pixie asked him, idly fiddling with Tig's necklace. He looked down and kissed the top of Pixie's head.

"You." Tig said softly. Pixie raised an eyebrow in question, so Tig continued. "Just thinkin' about how amazing you are."

Pixie wriggled a little to see his face better. "What do you mean?"

"You've been through hell and back, and yet you're one of the purest, kindest souls I've ever met, I don't know how you manage it, but I feel so protective over that. I don't want this world to take your light away, doll." Tig explained, his hand going up to stroke Pixie's hair.

"I think my soul's pretty safe. I've seen things no one should ever have to see, and if that can't turn me into a monster, then I don't know what can. I do feel like one sometimes, but I always fight my way back, I anchor myself to the people I care about, the people I love, they always bring me back from the brink." Pixie countered. "Like when I killed the clown with Happy, and then had to bury him, the whole time H and I were digging, before he plucked up the courage to talk to me, all I could think about was how I wanted to come back to you, because you made me forget about everything." She kissed his chest.

"I think you do the same for me, angel. I felt horrible after dealing with Kyle, and all I wanted, more than anything in the world was to have you in my arms and make me feel like I'm not a monster." Tig hugged Pixie tightly to him.

Pixie's heart fluttered. "I never thought I'd be anyone's anchor. But I'm glad I'm yours and I will do everything I can to make you believe you aren't evil, because you aren't." Pixie said firmly, kissing Tig's chest and snuggling into his side.

"You know, you surprise me all the goddamn time" Tig suddenly said. Pixie looked up at him with a puzzled expression, so he continued. "I was just thinking about how ever since I've met you, you've done the exact opposite of what I thought you were gonna do, every time. Like I thought you weren't gonna be interested in any of us when you arrived, now you seem to be most of the guys' emotional support 'coz you care so deeply. Then I thought you were never going to be interested in me and you'd probably get with Juice or Jax. Then you came on to me instead. Then there's your whole thing of just leaping head first into danger but that's a whole other talk." Tig ended with a chuckle and kissed Pixie's forehead as she propped herself up a little more to look at him.

"I do what I can to keep you on your toes." Pixie joked. Tig was about to reply when his phone let out a shrill ringing tone that shattered the morning's peace and quiet. Tig gently lifted Pixie off of him and darted into the bedroom to find out what was going on. Pixie sighed, knowing that their little honeymoon-esque holiday was going to be cut short. The club would only ring Tig if something serious had happened. Pixie wrapped the blanket around her and made her way to where Tig was pacing around in the bedroom, phone clasped into his ear as he listened.

"Fucking hell! They took Clay?...They've gotta be sniffing around for any leads...Want me to come down?...No fucking way, the club needs me! Jax c'mon, man." There was a pause whilst Tig listened to Jax, breathing heavily and rubbing his chin. "Yeah, send him up here... Are you sure? I mean-. A'ight, a'ight." Tig hung up, standing there for a second before he suddenly yelled " _SHIT_." Shaking his head with the explosive effort. As he turned, he realised Pixie was standing in the doorway in her blanket toga watching him.

" _She-it_!" Pixie copied him playfully, doing his head movement with a little giggle, knowing the best way to calm Tig down was to find humour and distraction. It worked, as Tig suddenly chuckled, running his hands across his face and visibly relaxing a little. "What're we yelling about?" Pixie asked him as Tig sat down on the bed and patted his lap for Pixie to come and sit, which she obliged.

"ATF have Clay down at Charming PD, they've got him in for questioning about an escaped prisoner and a triple homicide that happened yesterday."

"Holy shit." Pixie exclaimed. "We leave the Sons for a day and it all goes wrong, and they say I'm the trouble maker."

"I know, it gets worse, baby." Tig huffed. "Turns out the guns used to spring the prisoner, shoot a deputy and two innocents... were some of our AKs. Jax and Piney sold 'em to some of his 'nam buddies turned survivalists. The trail leads right back to us."

"Oh, fuck. That's gotta be chewing at Piney. What's the plan then?"

Tig rubbed his chin whilst his other hand gently squeezed Pixie's hip. "Opie's escorting Piney up here and keeping him detained so the ATF agents can't pick him off, Jax and the guys are then gonna figure out how to make dozens of guns disappear before ATF starts taking the clubhouse to shreds."

"Looks like Jax's gonna be taking on pres' duties sooner than he expected to. I'll give him a phone call in a bit and see where his head's at." Pixie thought aloud. Tig raised an eyebrow so she explained. "The kinds of stress that comes with being VP is unique to any other position in the club, Jax may open up and talk things through with me better, seeing as currently, I'm the only other person who gets it."

"Oh yeah, little miss VP." Tig said, recalling Pixie's position in Highton. "That might do him good. Jax wants us to stay put up here, so that if this all goes to shit, I'll still be on the outside, and you'll be safe out of the system too."

"That makes sense, sure you can handle being stuck on the outside? It isn't fun." Pixie asked, knowing how agitated Tig got if he felt like he didn't have control.

"Yeah, I'll just have to do what I can from up here, take a leaf out of your book. You've been handling the adjustment really well, doll, I know how frustrating you find it. Sooner we get you patched, the better." Tig said, kissing her cheek.

Pixie scoffed. "Yeah, try telling that to Clay. He still doesn't trust me, or see me as anything more than a talented hangabout."

"C'mon baby." Tig pleaded. "Clay'll come around soon enough, he's just not used to your brand of Son."

Pixie giggled. "I don't think anyone is." She decided to drop her focus on Clay, knowing her frustrations with the president made Tig uncomfortable. "We should probably tidy up and do some laundry, last thing we want is for Piney to get pissed off, he's gonna be on a short fuse anyways." Pixie changed the subject.

"True, There's a washing machine in the kitchen, I'll load the sheets if you tidy the bedroom and then we both better find some clothes." Tig suggested. "Though I'll miss seeing that sweet little ass of yours." Tig teased, grabbing Pixie and throwing her down on the bed onto her front, so he could pin her there and deliver kisses and love bites all the way across her bare back and ass.

"Tiggy!" Pixie laughed and squirmed under him. "We've got to get ready."

"I know, I know." He huffed light-heartedly, giving one last kiss to Pixie's back before letting her up. "Can you tidy or are you a little hyped, kitten?"

Pixie smiled, realising that Tig was serious about trying to help her with her ADHD. "No, I think I can tidy, why don't you shower first? You'll be quicker than me and it'll give me more time to get the bedroom straight." Pixie suggested.

Tig nodded. "Sure baby, shame we can't shower together though." He ended with a little grumble. Pixie sat up and kissed his cheek.

"I know, club business has to take priority." She stroked his curls lovingly. "But soon as all the shit dies down, we can do more stuff like this."

Tig turned his head and kissed Pixie, hand going to her neck automatically. "I want that, darlin'." Tig said softly before getting up and grabbing the laundry pile as well as a change of clothes for when he got out of the shower. "Right, I'll do this and get washed."

Pixie watched him go and made the bed, then picked up all the empty mugs and clutter, taking them to the kitchen and checking the cabin to make sure it was all looking tidy and how Piney had left it. Satisfied, she went to the bedroom to choose what she wanted to wear. Once Pixie had figured that out, she folded the clothes into a bundle to take into the bathroom with her and then a mischievous idea crossed her mind as she spotted Tig's kutte hanging on the row of coat hooks.

Tig opened the bathroom door feeling refreshed and ready for the day, dressed in a navy button-up shirt and black jeans decorated with his thick black belt, wallet chains and his signature knife sheath. The first thing his eyes gravitated to when he took a few steps into the main room was Pixie dressed in nothing but a pair of red panties and his kutte as she sashayed past him to put her things in the bathroom. Tig made a choking noise as he took in what he just saw and whipped around to take another look as Pixie came out of the bathroom again with a cheeky smile on her face.

"Baby." He said slowly, as he felt his mind malfunctioning as he tried to process the feelings. Nobody touched a Sons kutte. It was considered a great offence and they knew the consequences of messing with it. But at the same time, seeing his girl practically naked with it on was a surprising turn on that he hadn't anticipated. It was drowning her petite frame, and yet Pixie was owning it somehow. "Why're you wearing my kutte?"

Pixie shrugged. "You weren't." She said mischievously, giving him a little twirl.

Tig nodded, not being able to take his eyes off of her and Pixie giggled at his face, she could see the cogs turning as he tried to work out how to respond to her. "Because I was in the shower." He said with a chuckle.

"Touché." Pixie giggled making Tig laugh a little more. "So, how do I look?"

"Very sexy." Tig nodded taking a step closer to her, eyes raking up and down her body, taking in every inch of her in his prized possession. "Now c'mon, hand it over baby girl." He put his hand out expectantly. Pixie hi-fived it and darted around him.

"Nah, I don't think I will." Pixie said, pretending to think about it. "And I can tell it's turning you on too."

"You're lucky Piney and Opie are on their way otherwise I'd put you over my shoulder and have my wicked way with you." Tig growled playfully. "Now, I'm gonna count to three, and if you don't hand my kutte over, I'm gonna get you." He continued, eyes flashing with a promise of roughness.

"I think I'm pretty unlucky, that sounds like it'd be fun." Pixie said with a mock-pout as Tig groaned with lust at her words.

"You're killing me here, c'mon baby." Tig said with a laugh, Pixie giggled and shook her head. "Okay, three... two..." Tig trailed off watching as Pixie took a little step away from him, getting ready to bolt. "One." Tig announced lunging for her, Pixie dodged him and darted away from him again. He chased her around the main room, laughing at her squeals of excitement until he finally managed to corner Pixie and get his hands on her.

"Got you!" He growled triumphantly as he tugged his kutte off of Pixie.

"Aw, shucks." Pixie giggled pretending to be disappointed to make Tig chuckle.

"Now go get ready before you cause any more naughtiness." Tig ordered, grinning as he spanked her.

Pixie yelped playfully and ran into the bathroom as Tig went after her. She shut the bathroom door just as Tig reached it, putting on his kutte. He patted the pockets, making sure everything was in order and realised Pixie's mischief hadn't ended with his kutte.  
"Baby girl, give me my goddamn motorcycle keys!" He called through the door, smiling at Pixie's antics. He heard a giggle on the other side and the door opened a fraction so he could see Pixie's face, she stuck her tongue out at him and tossed the keys to him through the gap. He caught them and the door shut again.

"You're gonna get a serious spanking when you come outta there." He called through the door. He heard a muffled giggle from the other side and the shower starting up. Tig shook his head, grinning and walked off to go take a smoke whilst he waited for Pixie. He reached into his kutte pocket for the cigarette lighter and found something else in there as well. Puzzled, Tig pulled the glossy square of card out and realised it was a Polaroid of Pixie lying across the bed on her stomach on the white duvet, wearing his kutte and red panties. She was looking towards the camera with her head propped up on her hands and her legs were bent at the knees with her foot and prosthetic leg up in the air. There was a sparkle in her eyes and a cheeky grin that made Tig's heart melt. The picture was adorable and sexy and a total surprise. He'd recalled seeing an old Polaroid camera on the dresser in the bedroom when they arrived, and figured Pixie must've figured out how to make it work. Tig pulled out his wallet and tucked his new favourite photo in there to keep it safe after staring at it for a moment longer.

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie finished getting ready, dressing in some of the clothes and accessories Happy had bought for her. She had bubblegum pink skinny jeans, new black military-style boots with chains and studs, a black tank top with a pentagram dream catcher and a Sons zip up hoodie which she'd borrowed off of Juice so she wasn't totally swamped in it. Pixie tied her hair up into a high ponytail with a pink scrunchie and put on black rose earrings, a raven pendant on a silver necklace chain and the cuff Tig had given her. She stroked it fondly and her heart fluttered a little thinking about him. Never in her wildest dreams did Pixie think she would ever find someone like him. Tig had been a total surprise but it felt like they were meant to be together all along. There was no awkwardness or tension between them, everything was effortless and although Pixie knew that there would probably be times in the future where they did fight or have struggles, she felt that they'd be able to get past it. Once Pixie was satisfied with her appearance she opened the bathroom door to see Tig leaning against the opposite wall, watching her with those icy blue eyes. He took in her new outfit with an admiring eye.

"Lookin' good, baby."

"Thanks, you look good too, Tiggy." Pixie said sweetly, but eyeing him to see if Tig was going to make a move to grab her.

"You know you're in trouble, right?" Tig growled, though Pixie caught the playfulness in his eyes. She took a cautious step sideways, towards the back door and Tig straightened up and raised an eyebrow.

"You better not be thinking of making a break for it, kitten, c'mere." He pointed to just in front of him.

"Nah." Pixie grinned, running for the door, knowing full well she wasn't going to make it, but tried anyway. Tig hauled her up into his arms and then threw her down on the couch. She landed face down with a squeal as Tig smacked her ass and then pounced on top of her kissing the back of her neck.

"You wanna explain to me why you took my keys when I told you not to, kitten?" He growled against her skin, Pixie felt the butterflies as she wriggled under him.

"You said not to touch your motorcycle, didn't say anything 'bout your keys." Pixie answered back cheekily.

"Hm." Tig gently bit Pixie's earlobe to make her squirm and giggle. "You're in a naughty mood today, aren't you?"

"Maybe, I'm just happy." Pixie smiled up at him. "You make me happy."

"Oh, I see how it is, I make you happy and in return you cause havoc for me." Tig teased.

Pixie giggled. "Only 'coz you love it."

"I do." Tig said truthfully with a little laugh. "You're still in trouble though."

Two motorcycle engines suddenly broke through the quiet of the forest area, the noise becoming louder, signalling that the riders were coming their way. Tig sat up and Pixie took the opportunity to wriggle out from under him. "Guess you'll just have to punish me later then, sergeant." Pixie giggled before making a hasty exit as Tig swore under his breath, grinning.

Pixie whizzed out of the front door as Piney and Opie dismounted from their respective trike and bike. Piney saw Pixie as she hurtled towards them like an excited puppy and for the first time that day he felt relaxed. He opened his arms for Pixie and she jumped up for a hug. Piney caught her and hugged her tight, supporting her in his arms.

"Hey, darlin', how you doin'?"

"Good, though I'm glad to see you, I've been missing hanging out with you at the bar." Pixie said truthfully and Piney looked taken aback before smiling. He'd never thought that someone actually missed him around the clubhouse, so it was nice to know that Pixie felt that way.

"Dad, put Pixie down, you're gonna strain your back." Opie chided as he came over.

Piney turned to him, still with Pixie held firmly in his arms. "I'm _fine._ " he growled frustratedly. "Pixie weighs less than you did as a baby."

Pixie giggled. "Hey Piney, you hungry? I made butter pie." She said to distract him. "We still have a lot of beer too."

"I dunno what that is, but it sounds tasty, kid." Piney chuckled as he held her tight for a moment longer and set her down.

"It's a pie with cheese, onions, potatoes and some other stuff, if you want it hot, pop it in the microwave for a minute."

"Oh, I'm hooked, that sounds good." Piney nodded and made his way to the kitchen, nodding to Tig on the way past.

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Opie chuckled as Pixie turned her attention to him.

"You want a hug?" She asked him with a giggle.

"Hell yeah, c'mere." Opie grinned taking a step back and put his arms out to catch Pixie.

"I didn't know I was in such demand." Pixie laughed before running at him. Opie caught her and swung her around before holding her tight.

"You okay bud?" She murmured to him.

"Yeah, just needed to not feel like an idiot for a moment." Opie murmured back.

"Piney?"  
"Oh yeah, he's not happy."  
"Want me to talk to him? Would that help?"

"Please." Opie nodded. "Tig treating you right?"

"Yeah, he's great." Pixie nodded, smiling at the fact that Opie was looking out for her. He set Pixie down as Tig came over to greet his brother.

"Hey, man, so what's the deal at the moment?" Tig asked.

"Clay's still being detained, hasn't asked for a lawyer or a phone call, probably trying to ride it out. ATF's sniffing round, they're crawling all over the street next to the lot, there's no way we can get the guns out of there, but Jax is doing a good job of keeping everyone under control, he's saying he'll fix it, and I hope to god he does."

"Jax is smart when he needs to be, I think he'll do it." Pixie put in. "I'm gonna go call him, beer and pie's in the fridge if you're hungry." She told Opie before wandering out to where she'd parked her bike and sat down on it, pulling her phone from her pocket as she watched Opie and Tig talking before they wandered inside.

She dialled Jax's number and listened to the ring.

"Yo, you a'ight?" Jax greeted.

"Yeah, Opie and Piney arrived, sounds like things are going to shit down there." Pixie laughed.

"Shit's an understatement." Jax groaned. "We got a blocked septic tank, Clay's been detained for questioning about the triple homicide and ATF's camped out on our doorstep watching our every move. Oh and my mom found out about Cherry and seems to be on the warpath."

"That all happened in just over a day? Geez. How are you holdin' up?"

"Not gonna lie, I'm stressed as fuck. Anything like this ever happen to you?"

"I had to run the club whenever Bruce went on runs, he liked travelling. One time we had a rival cub invasion and had to put the whole town on lock-down, but that's about as bad as it got, you know until the IRA shit."

"Damn." Jax grunted.

"Hey, it's gonna be alright! We're Sons, we get shit thrown at us all the time and each time we come back swinging. Delegate jobs to the other guys and focus on the main problem at hand, getting the guns out of the garage. Septic tank sounds like a prospect job, so put H on monitoring that situation, it's not like ATF are gonna stop a sewage truck coming in and out of the lot. So that isn't much of an issue, yeah?" Pixie explained.

"Yeah, thanks kid." Jax said, sounding calmer.

"Okay, next problem, Clay's stuck until ATF are done, they can only hold him for so long before they have to either press charges or release him, so his highness is just gonna have to sit tight."

"True, and the only thing they can get him for is the guns."

"Which aren't gonna be there when they search the place." Pixie said firmly. "You guys smuggled them in there, so there's got to be a way to get them out, and I know you'll figure it out. Maybe go sit on the clubhouse roof for a bit and think?"

Jax laughed. "How'd you know that was my thinking spot?"

"Coz I'm observant, and happen to look up at the sky when I need to think, so I usually see you up there on the roof looking like biker Batman surveying his city or reading that book thing you smuggle around."

"I'll take Batman over a chav." Jax laughed down the phone. "And that 'book thing' needs to be kept a secret so keep this between us, 'kay?"  
"I promise. Maybe you need to read some more of it? You always seem a little calmer after you've read some of it and come down off your perch."

"Yeah, I'll do that. Any advice on moms?"  
"I never had one, so I can't help you there buddy, Gemma's a strange one anyway, you might wanna keep Cherry and H together, Gemma might get physical considering she slapped me on our first meeting. And if she found out that Clay wasn't faithful, she's gonna go for the throat with Cherry, even though Clay made her sleep with him."

"Very true, I'll make sure they stick together, or I'll put her with Juice if she needs to go somewhere."  
"Yeah, they seem friendly with each other, considering he drove her back, so that doesn't sound like a bad idea. How're the other guys holding up in all of this?"

"Bobby's working his liaison thing trying to get people to buy the AKs, Chibs is helping me and the rest are just keeping their heads down and hoping I come up with something, and fast."

"And you will." Pixie reiterated.   
"Thanks, Pix, I like having you on board."  
"Me too, if you ever need to talk, lemme know, yeah?"  
"Yeah, right I'm gonna head off, if all goes to plan, I'll come see you guys up at the cabin later."

"Okay, bye buddy." Pixie said and hung up. She breathed in deeply and out, convincing herself that she'd done all she could for Jax right now. Pixie really wanted to drive back down and help, but she knew that would only worry him, especially since he'd told her to stay put. She sent a text to Juice to make sure he wasn't panicking, knowing his worrying tendencies and then sent one to Chibs just saying she missed him. Pixie was surprised when she actually got a call back from him.

"You okay, lass?" Chibs asked as soon as she answered.

Pixie giggled. "I didn't mean to worry you, Chibbie. I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay and weren't too stressed."

"Aye, I'll be fine. Guessing ye know about the ATF shite?"  
"Yup, got the full rundown. We'll get through, Sons are resilient."  
"That we are, lassie. Jackie boy better come up with something though, Dunno how he'll manage it, the situation's impossible. Jax is in way over his head."  
"Oi." Pixie barked down the phone to get Chibs' attention. "Ye of little faith need to shut up. The only way Jax is gonna figure this shit out is if he feels supported and as though people have his back, if he hears you talking like that, he's gonna feel pressured and second guess himself, and second guessing leads to mistakes that the club can't afford." Pixie said firmly.

Chibs took a deep breath in and out. "I hear ye lass, and yer right. Least one of us has got their head screwed on straight."

"I know you're stressed, Chibbie, it's gonna be okay. I'm sorry if I was a little too hard on you just now, but I'm just worried about Jax. I promise, as soon as we see each other again, I'll give you the biggest hug."

"Lassie, it's alright, yeah? You said exactly what I needed to hear, and I'm proud of you for staying strong, though I'll look forward to that hug." Chibs chuckled and Pixie could hear the fondness in his voice.  
"Thanks, Chibbie, you better get back to the trenches then, huh?"  
"Aye, wish us luck sweetheart and I'll try and come see you as soon as possible."  
"Looking forward to it." Pixie said sincerely.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	49. Piney & Pixie

Pixie sat on the back porch leaning against Piney who had his arm around her and was smoking quietly. They were looking out at the river and the trees, just mulling things over in their minds and enjoying each other's company. Pixie had originally come out to give Piney a beer refill, but he'd put his arm out to invite her over and she'd realised he was in dire need of comforting so she sat down and snuggled up against him.

"Times are changing." Piney said quietly, his voice low and raspy. Pixie tipped her head up to see his face and his tired blue eyes. She thought about the things those eyes have witnessed and hugged him a little tighter.

"Yeah, life waits for no man, it changes even when you don't want it to." Pixie replied.

"People do too. Time changes people." Piney said, his voice sad and angry.

"Who are you referring to?" Pixie asked softly, feeling Piney's hand rub her back, comforting both of them.

"Nate Meineke. He's the guy Jax and I sold the guns to. We served together in Vietnam. We were best friends, we had each other's backs, he was at my wedding."

"Do you feel betrayed by him?" Pixie asked gently.

Piney breathed in deeply and then exhaled, coughing very slightly and pushing on the nasal piece for his oxygen line to help him recover. "I don't want to feel this way, but yes. I trusted the young man I knew in 'nam, without realising that he'd become an old cynical bastard who used me for his own gain. And now my mistake could cost the club dearly."

"I get that, and it's okay to feel betrayed, the guy killed three innocents, Piney, that bloods not on you, it's on him."

"I sold him the guns." Piney said angrily.

"And if you hadn't, he would've got the guns from somewhere else and done the same thing. You were just the middleman to him."

Piney exhaled, clearly upset and Pixie reached up and kissed his cheek, comforting him. "Thanks, darlin', it's good to be able to talk about this to someone." He gave her a half smile.

"I'm glad I can be here for you, Piney. What do you think will happen now?"

"Well, I dunno, Nate... he crossed the club. He'd never rat on me, but ATF will be able to link him straight back to me and the club. Most people who cross the club end up dead, but I don't know where Jax will land on this."  
"How does that make you feel?"

"Hurt and uneasy, no matter how hard I try, I just can't not see the scrawny kid I served with, not the guy who murdered three people."

"I understand, I think you have to view them as two separate people, the friend you knew wouldn't have hurt you like this, the Nate you knew is gone, and it's okay to mourn him, he died when something hurt Nate enough to change him into the person that crossed the club." Pixie explained, rubbing Piney's hand.

"Yeah, Jax wants me to reach out to him, find out where he's got to so we can take him and his son, Russell out. Jax doesn't trust Nate's kid. If the feds find them before we do, Russell's bound to tell them where he got the guns for a lighter sentence."

"Do you feel ready to reach out yet?"

Piney sighed. "No, but I'm gonna have to, we have to find them, and fast."

"Well, you've still got beer left in your bottle, so let's enjoy that for now, and when you finish it, give Nate a call, I'll stay with you if you want, and you can talk or just stay quiet and do whatever you need to to help you process this." Pixie told him.

Piney looked down at her and smiled, gently stroking the side of her face. "I like you, kid. You don't rush me or treat me like a crazy old man, you actually listen to me without me having to yell and even though you're a little crazy, you have more common sense than half the guys around here."

Pixie smiled. "That means a lot to me, Piney, I look up to you, you've been through so much, and you're still going, not letting anyone, even Clay, walk all over you."

Piney chuckled. "Clay knows that I can still knock him out if I want to."

Pixie giggled. "I wouldn't mind seeing that."

"Yeah, you and me both, darlin'." Piney chuckled.

☠️☠️☠️

On the opposite side of the cabin, Opie and Tig sat on plastic garden chairs on the front porch, looking out at the trees and smoking a joint between them. They had a circular patio table between them and they rested one elbow each on it, mirroring each other as they listened to the nature around them and enjoyed the moment's peace and quiet.

"So you and Pixie, huh?" Opie asked, passing Tig the joint without looking at him, both just staring straight ahead.

Tig nodded slowly and chuckled. "Yeah. Who'd've thunk it."

"How serious are you two?"

"I haven't thought about another woman for...geez, I can't remember, like since we first kissed, the day after the carnival."

Opie's eyebrows disappeared into his beanie in surprise and he looked over at Tig who was grinning. "Really? Are you sure? Like, this is _you_ we're talking about, you've always had, like, at least two women on the go." Opie looked at him in sheer disbelief. 

Tig chuckled at his brother's bewildered face. "Yeah, only 'coz I wasn't satisfied, but Pixie? _Man_ , she's got me hooked. I mean, she keeps me on my toes to the point I got no time to think 'bout any other woman 'coz all I'm thinking about is what's she gonna do next."

Opie chuckled. "Really?"

"Hell yeah, like every situation I think I have a rough idea of what she's gonna do and then, it's like she knows and actively does a complete one-eighty."  
"Every situation? Like even in the bedroom?"  
"Oh, fuck yeah, man. Incredible." Tig nodded, eyes wide.

"Lucky bastard." Opie chuckled.

"Tell me about it." Tig smirked. The front door opened and Piney and Pixie came out and walked over to the men at the table.

"Just heard from Nate, told me where he's got to, I gotta tell Jax." Piney said grimly.

"Make the call." Tig nodded.

"No, I want to tell him in person, see how everything's holding up."

"Dad, no way, Jax told you to stay put." Opie said, rubbing his forehead.

"Yeah, well I'm not a goddamn dog." Piney snapped. Pixie stepped forwards and put her hand in Piney's, he looked over at her and the men watched Piney's face soften as he visibly calmed. "I want to go, son." He said calmer, but firmly.

"Getting a search warrant or finding a couple of old guys in a shack is gonna take ATF a lot longer than a morning, as long as we're quick, we can get in and out in no time at all." Pixie said calmly, eyeballing Tig and Opie, shooting them a warning look.

"Jax told us to stay put too, doll." Tig said, realising Pixie was wanting to go with Piney to see Jax.

"Yeah, so you stay put, ATF or Charming PD haven't got shit on me." Pixie said, taking off her kutte. Tig noted she was wearing a purple zip hoodie instead of the Sons one she had on earlier. "Now I'm just a kid with a motorcycle."

"You serious right now?" Tig said in disbelief.

"What, it's not like we're gonna get pulled over, Charming PD know Piney isn't active, all their attention will be on the Sons they know are up to shit." Pixie explained.

"Pix has a point." Opie put in. "Okay, fine. Do it, but be back soon or else I'll drag the pair of you back up here." Opie warned like a disgruntled dad.

Tig scrubbed his face with his hands and then pointed at Pixie. "You can go, but I swear to god if you get in trouble..." Tig trailed off as Pixie stepped forwards and gave him her kutte.

"I promise I won't, Tiggy." She said gently, Tig nodded and sat back in his chair. Pixie gave a little jump of excitement at the prospect of being back on her bike and looked up to Piney with a grin. "Jailers let us free, let's go." She grinned.

Piney chuckled and the two of them wandered to their trike and bike, getting ready to go.

"They knew they were gonna win that argument, didn't they?" Opie chuckled in disbelief as he watched his Dad and Pixie drive off.

"Yup, arguing with Pixie is futile, add Piney to the mix and they're unstoppable." Tig chuckled. "Jax is gonna chew us out for this."

"Yup, may as well finish the blunt and enjoy the quiet until they come back." Opie suggested.

"I'll smoke to that." Tig smiled.

☠️☠️☠️

"Nothin's coming up under Meineke, other than discount mufflers." Juice said, gesturing to the monitoring screen of the computer sat in the corner of the clubhouse's main room. Jax looked over his shoulder, brow furrowed as he thought hard.

"What's going on?" Piney's voice called across the room as he came striding in with Pixie following along behind him. She caught sight of Juice and gave him a happy grin as he shot her a puzzled expression, clearly not expecting to see her back so soon, and in the company of Piney.

Jax turned frustratedly and stormed over to the pair of them. "I thought I told you to go underground." He huffed at Piney, then turned to Pixie. "And you're supposed to be grounded up there too."

"Nate reached out." Piney responded. "They got nothing on Pixie so she's escorting me."

"Hiya." Pixie greeted cheekily.

Jax rolled his eyes. "Okay, what did Nate say?"

"They're in some survivalist bunker outside of Woodbridge forest."  
"Great, you gotta set up a meet." Jax nodded.

"Well...and then what happens?" Piney asked hesitantly.

Pixie saw Jax's face change into more aggression and she shook her head at him, trying to get him to chill out, to no avail. "They killed three people in cold blood and they're a straight line back to the club. What the hell do you think happens, Piney?" Jax growled.

"I don't know." Piney rasped, looking down at the floor, not wanting to face the reality of what was going to happen to Nate and the other survivalists. Pixie rubbed his hand comfortingly. The door opened and Bobby and Chibs walked in looking defeated and stressed, they caught sight of Piney and Pixie and looked confused for a second, Pixie gave them a little wave which Chibs returned with a smile.

"Trammel just called." Bobby said grimly. "The Feds have a warrant to rip this place up."

"Aw shit." Jax muttered. He looked up at Piney angrily. "Cabin. _Now_!" He yelled.

Piney turned to face him with fire in his eyes as he ripped off his breathing tube. "Who do you think you're talking to?" Piney growled back, looking for all the world like a bear about to shred Jax as he squared up to him. Pixie jumped in front of him and firmly pushed on his chest whilst Juice got in on the other side and pushed Jax back. Chibs and Bobby jumped in to help as well and Pixie exchanged a 'well, shit' glance with Chibs.

"Come on, relax, relax, relax." Jax ordered, dispelling the tension in the room. Pixie wondered if he knew he caused it in the first place.

"Piney, maybe you ought to go outside for a second, would that be okay? I'll be out in a sec, yeah?" Pixie said gently as she pulled him away from Jax.

"Fine, come soon, okay, kid?" He nodded.

"Promise." Pixie nodded and hugged him, he hugged her back tightly before wandering out, cursing under his breath but looking visibly relaxed and less like he wanted to tear someone's head off with his bare hands.

"What are you, the Piney whisperer?" Bobby chuckled.

"You just gotta treat him with some respect." Pixie said firmly as she strode over to Jax and grabbed his wrist. "C'mere, _now_." She hissed at him. Jax realised there was no room for arguing, so let Pixie take him away from the group to a quiet corner where she got up onto the sofa so she could look him in the eye and slapped him upside the head, gently but enough to show her displeasure.

"Hey! What was that for?" Jax grunted.  
"Jax, I get you're stressed, but you need to step back and breathe." Pixie said, putting her hands on his shoulders. "Talking to Piney like that is not going to make things any better. He's already tearing himself up inside, he feels guilty and responsible for what happened and he's known Nate for longer than either of us have been alive, what you're asking him to do, to him that feels like if you had to kill Opie or one of us."

Jax swallowed thickly and looked away from Pixie's face, knowing she was right. "So what do you want me to do? He sold those guns to Meineke, he's responsible."

Pixie gave his shoulders an exasperated shake. "So did you! You were up there with him. You brought the guns up there, this is on you too. It sucks that Meineke used us for his own sick gain, but now we have to fix it. You're gonna figure this shit out, but yelling and stamping your feet isn't going to get shit done. You need to take a step back and breathe. Look at things from a different perspective. I believe in you, Jax, and I trust you."

Jax looked at Pixie, her eyes showed she was telling the truth and that she really cared for him, and he was taken aback to see this side of Pixie. "Thanks, kid."

"C'mere." Pixie smiled, wrapping her arms around him in a comforting hug. Jax was surprised at how much he needed it and wrapped his arms tightly around her in return, letting his guard down for a second and taking refuge in Pixie's unwavering positivity and strength. "You can do this, just breathe and take a step back." Pixie reiterated. Jax nodded and lifted her off the sofa and onto the floor.

"Thanks, kid. Now go say bye to the others and get Piney back to the cabin, yeah?"

"Yes boss." Pixie smiled. She turned her attention to Bobby, Chibs and Juice who were watching them and she skipped over, jumping on Juice with an excited giggle.

"Hey, bro!"

Juice laughed. "Hey sis, didn't think I'd be seeing you so soon."  
"Neither, but Piney needed to come down, so I'm undercover, hence the lack of kutte."

"Wondered about that." Juice nodded. "Good idea, more we can keep you off their radar the better."

"Exactly, you guys doing okay?" Pixie asked, turning her attention to Chibs and Bobby.

"Yeah, don't worry, sweetheart." Bobby nodded. "Looks like you've got your work cut out, keeping Piney calm and getting through to Jax."

Pixie nodded. "It's the least I can do, I care about every single one of you and if I can help in any way, even if it's just giving a hug, I'll do it."

"I'll take a hug if there's one going." Bobby smiled, Pixie let go of Juice and bounded over to him and he enveloped her in a strong cuddle before letting her go so Pixie could jump up at Chibs to make him laugh as he caught her.

"There's my lassie! How are ye?"

"Good, glad I got to see you." Pixie smiled, feeling happier now that she was in Chibs' comforting arms.

"Aye, me too, you'd best be off though, don't want ye here when the feds come and take this place apart."

Pixie nodded. "Stay safe, okay?" She looked to Chibs and then at Bobby and Juice.

"Promise." Chibs nodded, linking his pinkie with hers before letting her get down. Pixie waved to them before scooting off to find Piney who was sitting on his bike outside.

"Ready to go, darlin'?"

"Yeah, all set." Pixie confirmed as she got on her bike and pulled on her helmet. "Race you!"

Piney chuckled as Pixie sped out of the lot and he drove after her. He rarely got to ride like this, so fast and carefree. The pair stormed through Charming and blazed up the long stretch of road leading away from the town and towards the dense forests. Piney managed to catch up to Pixie and she looked over at him and pulled up into a wheelie, much to Piney's surprise and excitement. He grinned at her and watched as she set the front wheel down and then stood up on her bike arms outstretched before she sat down and sped away from him. Piney grinned to himself, feeling like he was twenty again and revved his engine, accelerating after Pixie. The two of them raced each other, engines growling, with manic grins on their faces. They pulled into the cabin's dirt driveway laughing and cheering as they parked up and switched off their engines.

"Oh kid, we have to go riding together more often, you ride like a _true_ Son." Piney exclaimed, breathing in more oxygen from his tube as he tried to calm his fast beating heart from the rush of adrenaline. Piney couldn't remember the last time he'd ridden like that, just for the sake of it and he hadn't realised just how much he'd missed it.

"Sure thing! I like riding with you, Pines." Pixie said happily as she put her helmet on the handlebar of her bike and got off. Opie and Tig were still sitting exactly how they'd been left, watching as Piney and Pixie saunter up the path to the porch. "Hey, boys." She greeted.

"What're you two grinning about?" Opie asked as the duo reached them and Pixie gave him a hug.

"We just had a good ride back. Pixie showed me her skills, she rides incredibly well." Piney said, looking for all the world like a proud grandpa.

"Thanks, Piney, your trike is really fast." Pixie smiled at him before looking over at the other two. "He kept up with me most of the way." Pixie nodded as she went over to Tig and kissed his cheek.

"How fast were you two going?" Tig asked, pulling Pixie into his lap as Piney sat down on the low stone wall of the porch.

"Don't worry, I didn't go above one-ten like you made me promise." Pixie said with a little light-hearted huff.

"Good girl." Tig said with a chuckle, kissing her cheek. "How's everything back at the clubhouse?"  
"ATF have a warrant to search the place today." Piney said grimly.

"Shit. Has Jax managed to sort the guns?" Tig asked, turning serious and rubbing his chin.  
"No. He's stressed as hell. I talked to him though, and he's focused on fixing the issue. We just gotta sit tight." Pixie put in.

"Yeah, the rest of the guys okay?" Opie asked.

"Seem to be, stressed but doing all they can." Pixie told him. There was a tense silence as Opie and Tig began to worry more. Pixie sensed this and decided to try and lighten the mood. "Well, we can hardly sit here and worry all day, so why don't we find something fun to do?"

"What do you have in mind?" Opie asked, intrigued.

"I can tell you boys are hungry, I've got flour and stuff spare, I could make Eccles cakes to munch on? I also spotted some board games, so we could play those too? Or we could make a den, climb trees, do target practice, anything really."  
"I'm all for eating cake." Piney said eagerly which made Pixie giggle.

"Okay, I'll get that going then. Any of you boys wanna help?"

Opie shrugged. "I like cooking?"

"Sweet! C'mon then big guy, let's go sort them out." Pixie said eagerly, sliding off of Tig's lap and giving him a quick kiss before she grabbed Opie's hand to haul him up to his feet and towed him into the kitchen.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	50. Cabin Crew

Pixie pulled the trays of eccles cakes out of the oven and put them on the cooling rack on the side. "These look good, mate! You did a good job." Pixie said coming over to where Opie was drying the mixing bowl after doing the washing up, Pixie hip bumped him playfully, or rather she bumped her hip against his thigh. Opie smiled and returned the bump.

" _We_ did a good job, I just did what you told me to."

"Well then you're a good listener." Pixie grinned, putting the bowl away and a couple of utensils that had been dried as well.

Opie chuckled. "Try telling Donna that."

Tig walked into the kitchen and immediately homed in on the cooling eccles cakes. "These smell good!"

"Don't touch, Tiggy. They're piping hot and the filling will burn your mouth."

"Filling?"  
"Yeah, the currants we got at the store?" Pixie reminded him.

"Isn't it a pie then, if it's got filling?" Tig said, a little confused.

"Oh don't go there, brother, trust me, we've already had this conversation." Opie chuckled, ruffling Pixie's hair.

Tig smiled. "England's confusing, isn't it?"

"England's fine, it's you guys that're baffling." Pixie said with joking indignation. "What do you guys wanna do whilst the cakes are cooling?"  
"You mentioned target practice, wanna show us how you throw knives?" Opie asked.

"Oh hell yeah, brother, we gotta do that." Tig nodded eagerly.

"Well, set up a range and I'll show you, you both have your knives on you, they aren't the best for throwing, but I can still teach you how to use them effectively and I've got three on me plus my bandolier." Pixie explained.

Opie looked at her. "Bandolier?"  
"Oh yeah, you should see Pixie when she's in kill mode, she's armed to the teeth, puts Lara Croft to shame." Tig said, eyes looking affectionately at Pixie. "Go get your stuff 'n' show Ope. You got your guns too?"

"Yeah, course, want me to get those too?"

Tig nodded. "Yeah doll. Ope you gotta see them, she's got two beautiful Walter P88's."  
"Geez, they're a classic! I gotta see 'em." Opie grinned. Pixie scooted off to the bedroom whilst Tig and Opie went out the back door and Opie dug out some target boards and string, hanging it on an oak tree as Piney watched him from the bench on the back porch.

"What's going on, son?"

"Pixie's gonna show us how to throw knives and the guns she uses, Walter P88's apparently." Opie explained. A smile appeared on Piney's face at the mention of Pixie and he settled back into his seat to watch the show. Pixie came out wearing her bandolier and holsters and the old man did a double take.

"Woah sweetheart, you look dressed to kill." Piney chuckled.

"Thanks, it's my assassin gear I use when I have to do kills or business for the club." Pixie explained as Tig and Opie came to see. Pixie could see Opie was homing in on her pistols so she took them out and checked the safety was definitely on before passing them over. Opie checked them out and then admired them, passing one to Piney to have a look at as well.

"These are beautiful! And so well maintained too." Opie nodded approvingly.

"Thanks, I make sure to clean and take care of them as much as possible. They were hand-me-downs of Bruce's when he upgraded to Glocks. These are ambidextrous too which means I don't have to worry and I can use both hands if I need to. Pixie said making finger gun motions.

"You're ambidextrous?" Opie asked.

"Yeah, wanna see?" Pixie said she was a little excited at the prospect of performing for them.

"Course!" Opie nodded. Pixie pulled two knives from her bandolier, twirling them around in perfect synchrony in her hands as she walked over to the tree with the target on. She then stopped spinning them and held them up before throwing them at the exact same time. The knives flew through the ear before homing in on the bullseye together, sticking into it with a definite 'thunk' sound.

"Gorgeous!" Piney called over to her.

Pixie did a little jump of excitement. "You guys want a go?"

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie, Tig and the Winstons spend the rest of the afternoon learning how to throw knives properly and had fun joking and laughing with each other about their throwing abilities. Tig turned out to be more accurate than Opie, but couldn't always get the knife to stick, whereas Opie had the force to make the knives sink in deeply, but struggled to get the knives close enough to the bullseye. Pixie helped them with their form and throwing styles, teaching them tricks and was overwhelmingly encouraging, which Opie warmed to immediately. Getting a lesson from Pixie was like being taught by a wholesome cheerleader. Not only were Pixie's instructions easy to follow, whenever Opie threw the knife or adjusted his stance, Pixie was doing little hyper jumps of excitement and affectionate cheers that boosted his confidence and made him feel totally relaxed. The main thing they joked about together was their drastic height difference, especially when Pixie needed to adjust his throwing arm and had to put her arms over her head to reach his forearm as she barely cleared his shoulder. Tig was thoroughly enjoying watching Pixie get on well with Opie and Piney, though sometimes he got jealous which Pixie found funny, and teased him about, though made sure to give him lots of praise and attention whenever it was his turn to throw. Tig couldn't remember the last time he'd been this relaxed and was just able to enjoy the company of his friends and Pixie without thinking too much about the club, or even talking about it for that matter. Even Piney enjoyed himself, he watched the trio for the most part, but eventually Pixie managed to persuade him to get up and join in for a little while, and it was then Piney realised how much he cared for Pixie, but also how she could ask him to do anything and he wouldn't be able to say no. Piney had begun to think of Pixie as truly one of the family and he loved how infectious her positivity and excitement was. She was just so happy and playful, that it was impossible to be down or grumpy in her presence, and if she caught on that your mood was low, the next thing you knew, you were being cuddled within an inch of you life and being told how amazing you were and how much Pixie cared for you. Piney thought that it was nice to see that this was such a genuine reaction from Pixie as well, there was no faking it or exaggerating with her. Pixie said exactly what was on her mind and attached quickly to the people she cared about.

When the afternoon wore on and they got hungry, the foursome packed up the knives and went inside to see what they could do about food, eventually deciding to have a barbecue with some of the burgers and steaks Piney had in his freezer. Whilst Tig and Piney started up the grill, Pixie went looking to see what board games they had available, pulling open the tall double doors of a wooden storage cabinet to have a look. Opie came up behind her and put his hands on either door to peer in and see what Pixie was looking at. She jumped as she realised he was behind her and then giggled, tilting her head back to look up at him.

"You spooked me." Pixie giggled.

"Sorry, kid, just wanted to see what you were up to. Find anything interesting?"  
"I'm just trying to look, but my mind's all jittery so I'm having trouble reading the names of the all the board games I wanted to play, but I'm still a little hyped for sitting still."

Opie raised an eyebrow. "ADHD?"  
Pixie nodded and turned around to look at him better. "How'd you guess?"  
"A nephew of Donna's has it, we see the family every Christmas and he's just like you, fiddling with things, excitable and constantly on the go. I had my suspicions." Opie smiled.

"At least you know a bit about it then." Pixie nodded.

"What helps you chill out a bit?" Opie asked, watching as Pixie's hands as they fiddled with her jacket sleeve.

"Running around doing sustained physical activity until most of the jitters are gone and I can actually pay attention to stuff. I think focusing on the knife throwing for so long made my brain go loopy. It was so fun though!"

Opie chuckled at Pixie's explanation. " It sure was! Okay, so why don't we go do something whilst Tig and my dad get the grill up and running. "I have a tire swing in storage which I put out when my kids come down here."  
Pixie's eyes lit up immediately. "I love swings! Yes please."

Opie chuckled and stepped back so Pixie wasn't boxed in and shut the cupboard. "Okay, go climb a tree until I'm done, then I'll push you around on it."  
Pixie nodded and they walked out the back door together, Opie watched as Pixie scrambled up the nearest tree like a monkey and started jumping from branch to branch. He went to the storage shed and pulled out the tire swing, then went rooting for the other play equipment he had for his kids. He found a rope ladder and swing made out of a wooden board so you could sit or stand on it and brought those out with chains to secure them. He caught sight of Pixie dangling upside down from a tree branch. She gave a little whoop of excitement as she arched her back and swung her legs down, grabbing the branch below her with her hands as she swung round. She spotted Opie laughing at her antics and pulled herself up onto the branch to sit as she watched him put down the gear and sort it out.

"You found more things?"  
"Yeah, another swing and a rope ladder, thought you could do more stuff with those."

"Thanks, mate!" Pixie exclaimed as she jumped down from the branch and came across to see what Opie was doing. Tig and Piney stood by the grill, drinking beer and watching Pixie and Opie interact with each other. Pixie's phone vibrated in her pocket and she checked it, wondering who was after her.

H: Gem broke Cherry's nose wiv sk8brd. Cherry in a&e.

P: WTF?! Y? U ok?

H: She mad Cherry's in town. Waznt wiv her wen it happnd.

P: Hlp Jax den go 2 C Cherry

H: K CU L8R

Pixie put her phone away "Damn."

"What's up?" Opie asked from where he was crouched down, untangling the chains.

"Gemma just attacked Cherry with a freaking skateboard. Broke her nose, poor girl's in A&E."

Opie turned around. "Who?"

"Cherry? She's a girl from Indian Hills. When we all went up there for the patch over, H and her fell for each other, but Clay made Cherry sleep with him because he wanted to get back at H for saying he had a "serious MILF chubby for Gemma". Now Cherry's in Charming to win H back and be his old lady, but Gemma found out that Clay wasn't faithful and decided to take it out on Cherry instead of her idiot husband."

Opie was silent for a moment trying to process what Pixie just told him. "I don't know what's worse, MILF chubby or the skateboard thing."

Pixie giggled. "You should've been there for the MILF Chubby incident, it was hilariously cringy, Juice and I couldn't stop laughing." Pixie explained exactly what happened as Opie hung up the tire swing, chuckling at Pixie's storytelling, watching her hand actions and re-enactments, feeling more entertained than if he was watching Donna's favourite soap operas.

"So Clay was standing there the whole time?"

"Yeah! You should've seen H's face when he realised!" Pixie giggled. "It was a cross between 'well fuck I'm screwed' and 'so this is how I die'."  
Opie laughed at her analogy. "Poor bastard."

"I know!" Pixie agreed. She watched Opie untangle the second swing and picked up the chain shackle he was going to use to secure the chain to itself to make a loop around the tree branch, and began to fiddle with it.

"Pass that over kid, I'm gonna need it in a minute." Opie said looking up and watching Pixie automatically take a step back, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. "Pixie." He warned her, feeling a smile on his own face as she suddenly let out a giggle and ran off with it. Opie hauled himself to his feet and ran after her, enjoying the chase. Pixie darted behind a tree and used the fact that it was harder for Opie to turn without losing speed due to his size and stature, to her advantage as she sprinted away from him with an excited squeal. Opie laughed and followed her, reaching Pixie just as she scrambled up a tree to try and get away from him. He caught a hold of her left leg and pulled hard so Pixie came off the branch and safely into his arms with a yelp. "Got ya!" Opie cheered triumphantly, carrying Pixie across to where he had the swings set up. Feeling playful he readjusted Pixie in his arms so he could tip her upside down, making her cling on and squeal with excitement and laughter before bringing her up and spinning her around.

"Opie!" She exclaimed in between hiccuping giggles.

"Yeah?" He laughed holding her steady so Pixie could catch her breath.

"You're funny." She grinned at him before grabbing his beanie and pulling it over his eyes for a second. Opie laughed and pulled it back up.

"You're funny too, kiddo, now gimme the shackle so I can put the swing up."  
"Nah, this is fun." Pixie giggled. Tig looked up to see Opie laughing with Pixie in his arms and Pixie caught sight of him. "Tiggy! Catch!" Pixie called to him. Tig put his beer down and came away from the porch arms up ready to grab whatever Pixie had, she tossed him the shackle and Tig caught it, raising an eyebrow as to what was going on.

"Dammit, Pixie." Opie laughed, putting it down. "Tig, give that here, man."

Pixie shook her head, giggling at Tig who decided it was time to have fun.

"Oh this thing? You need it?" He teased.

"Dude." Opie chuckled knowing Tig wasn't going to help. Pixie sprinted past Opie and put her hand out, Tig tossed her the shackle and then ran alongside her as Opie made to catch up to them. They threw the shackle at each other, playing piggy-in-the-middle with Opie until finally Opie tackled Pixie and managed to get a hold of it. The three of them were breathless and their jaws hurt from laughing and smiling too hard. Opie couldn't remember the last time he'd just messed around and done this kind of thing or laughed this hard. He finally managed to put the second swing and the rope ladder up, this time with Tig's help and Piney distracting Pixie by getting her to fetch and carry things from the kitchen. As soon as Opie was done, Pixie eagerly jumped on the swing with the wooden board and swung around, chattering to the guys about anything that came into her mind whilst they joked with her and took turns manning the grill. Eventually Pixie climbed up onto a tree branch and hung upside down, her phone buzzed again and she pulled it out of her pocket to answer it.

J.T: Prob solved :)

P: YAY! Way 2 go! Told u u cud do it! :D

"Jax just texted, they got the guns out!" Pixie called over.

"Awesome!" Opie nodded. "Are you seriously texting upside down?" He asked her.

"Yeah? I used to revise like this for school. I had a pull up bar which I'd hook my legs through and read my textbook whilst doing crunches upside down." Pixie said, demonstrating a few for the guys.

"You're insane." Opie laughed. "How many pull-ups can you do?"

Pixie pulled herself upright and beckoned him over. "Dunno, let's find out, come do them with me." She said excitedly, Opie took off his kutte and came over to the branch, making sure it was actually high enough and steady enough for him to do pull-ups on properly.

"Ready, set, go!" Pixie announced as she swung her legs down and did pull-ups in time with Opie on the other side of the branch so they were mirroring each other. Opie was surprised to find that Pixie was able to keep pace with him easily and they quickly hit twenty before Pixie lost her grip and dropped, landing easily with a giggle.

"We should work out together!" Pixie said eagerly as Opie dropped down and stretched out his aching arms.

"Yeah, you're good kiddo." He nodded, ruffling her hair.

"Burgers are ready." Piney called over.

"Race you!" Pixie giggled, taking off towards the porch.

"How the fuck are you not exhausted?" Opie laughed, jogging after her.

"ADHD, baybee" Pixie joked, turning around and doing finger guns. She flopped down onto the bench next to Tig who had a plate for her and a drink of water which she chugged down, not realising how thirsty she'd gotten. She got another text from Jax.

J.T: Cmin to c u @ cbn l8r, k?

P: WOO! Cnt w8! Prd of u :)

J.T: ha, C.T says hi.

P: Hi Chibbie :D

Pixie put her phone away and told the guys about Jax coming to the cabin before tucking into her food.

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie watched the sun set with Tig on the back porch whilst Opie and Piney watched a sports game inside. Since Opie and Piney arrived, Tig had barely had a chance to spend time with Pixie and was feeling a little sense of jealousy. He was overjoyed at the fact that Pixie got on so well with his club brothers, but at the same time, felt protective and jealous when Opie and Pixie roughhoused or when Piney and Pixie made plans to go riding with each other. He was much happier now though, with Pixie snuggled in his lap with her head on his chest, playing with the rings on his fingers.

"I love you so much, baby girl." He crooned as he nuzzled the spot behind Pixie's ear that made her squirm and stomach flutter in delight.

"Love you so much too, big guy. Today's been a lot more fun than I was expecting."

"You made it fun. If you hadn't been here, the Winstons and I would've just smoked and worried about the club."

"Well, I'm glad I was able to help then." Pixie smiled. They stayed there until the sun disappeared entirely and the evening air started to have a little chill to it. They wandered inside together to find Opie and Piney on the sofa, the TV now off and Piney had an upset look on his face. Pixie was at his side in a second, giving him a hug.

"Pines? What's up?"

"It's alright, darlin' just Nate calling again. I'll tell you when Jax and the others gets here."

Pixie nodded. "Okay, whatever happens, just know that I'm here for you."

Piney stroked her back and pulled her into his lap. "That makes me feel better, thanks, sweetheart."

"Do you want another eccles cake?" Pixie asked him.

"Sure, they're tasty." Piney nodded, letting Pixie go. She whizzed off to the kitchen and back, giving it to him before the sound of two motorcycle engines sliced through the quiet evening and headlights shone through the window, announcing the arrival of Jax and Bobby. Pixie gave an excited yip and flew out of the front door.

Jax was first off his motorcycle and just had time to drop his helmet before Pixie jumped him. He caught her and held her tightly.

"Hey kid! Guessing you missed me?" He said with a laugh.

"Of course! I was worried about you and the others. I'm so glad you're all okay!"

Jax felt his heart warm at Pixie's words and he held onto her for a moment longer, taking comfort in her and feeling his stress melt away. He reluctantly set her down and watched as Bobby was almost taken down by Pixie as she leapt at him for a hug as well.

"Well hello to you too, darlin'. You doing okay?" He greeted, happily.

"Yeah, we had fun today, I taught Opie and Tig how to throw knives, then messed around with Ope for a bit, we baked eccles cakes."

"Oooh, I love home baking, lead the way, kiddo." Bobby chuckled, taking Pixie's hand in his so they could walk up to the cabin together with Jax. They walked through the front door and Pixie darted off to get the plate.

"Evening." Piney greeted, "Nate called, he wants to make a deal on the rest of those AKs." Piney grunted.

"Russell knows nobody'll touch 'em. Ten grand for all thirty-six." Opie said, sinking lower into the couch to get comfortable.

"Shit. Those guns are worth ten times that." Bobby grumbled. Pixie came back with the plate and gave it to Bobby before she motioned for Jax to help push the other couch away from the wall and closer to the other one so they could all sit round and discuss. Jax thought it over as he moved the couch and then flopped down onto it, looking defeated.

"A'ight. Set it up." He said grimly, shoving his hands through his hair. "Me and Ope will make the run." Jax said, thinking aloud.

"No, you can't go without me." Piney emphasised his point by pulling himself to his feet. Pixie felt a sinking feeling and exchanged a 'get ready for action' glance with Opie and Tig.

Jax stood up and followed as Piney paced a little way, agitated at the prospect that his friend and 'nam brother had just hours left to live. "You're okay tying up this loose end?" Jax said carefully, taking a softer approach than earlier and Pixie relaxed a little, hoping Jax was going to take her advice and not jump all over Piney

"You don't have to ask me that." Piney grunted, looking at Jax with a nod, showing he was on Jax's side.

"A'ight." Jax said after a second. He went to the couches to go sit down with Tig and Bobby who were passing the plate around. Pixie vaulted the back of the couch and went after Piney as he went out the back door, seeing how his shoulders were slumped under the weight of what he had to do next. As she followed him out, Jax watched the pair of them leave. "Since when did those two get close?"

"Pixie ripped into my dad about how hard he was being on me a while back, and accidentally earned his respect. He warmed to her and she's been supporting him all through this, doing a better job than me at the moment, I'm kinda relieved 'cause I have no fucking clue what to say to him half the time, let alone give any meaningful advice."

"I feel that, brother. How the hell is Pixie the youngest one out all all the Charming Sons by a minimum of four years, yet still has advice better than all of us put together?" Jax chuckled. "Kid's like a baby yoda."

"I've found that Pixie has two modes, extremely helpful, and extremely unhelpful." Tig chuckled.

"Oh, tell me about it, geez." Opie laughed. "You should've seen her earlier, tried to put up some swings for her to play on, took like ten times as long because the little rascal decided to run off with the chain shackle. And then this idiot decided to help her." Opie grunted, using his long leg span to kick Tig's boot.

"I had no choice, who could say 'no' to Pixie?" Tig chuckled. "Besides, she needed to blow off energy, otherwise there'd be _no_ way in hell she'd sleep tonight."

Jax grinned. "Fuck knows where she gets all that energy from."

"I feel you on that, I did twenty pull-ups with her keeping pace with me, she then got down and ran off. Though I get why she's like that, it's her brain, she has ADHD, she'll probably tell you at some point, just means we have to keep an eye on her when she gets going." Opie explained. "She made it to VP despite having it, so she can control it to an extent, but it makes her impulsive and agitated, and uncontrollable unless she can blow off energy." Tig and Jax looked at him, confused as to how he knew so much about it. "Donna's nephew has it, kid goes berserk if he's given candy."

Jax chuckled. "Okay, nobody gives Pixie candy. And that makes a lot of sense, given what we've seen of her behaviour."

Piney and Pixie came back inside, Piney looking significantly calmer and had his arm around Pixie who was smiling up at him. "You boys okay?"  
"Yeah, just talkin' 'bout how crazy you are." Jax joked. Pixie ruffled his hair in response.

"I'm just as crazy as you guys." Pixie giggled. "You gonna tell us how you managed to Houdini the guns out of the garage?" Pixie asked eagerly as Piney sat down on the La-Z-boy and got ready to listen as well. Jax hauled Pixie over the back of the couch and she flopped down in between him and Tig, putting her Legs in his lap and Jax put his arm around her so Pixie was hugged to his side.

"Sure, I took your advice, Pix, and went to go chill on the roof, smokin' and shit and I looked down at the only thing in the lot, aside from the motorcycles, which was the septic tank truck. And it suddenly hit me, if we wrapped the guns up in tape and bags, we can shove 'em in there without ATF takin' any notice, then go hunt the truck down tonight."

"And you call me crazy." Pixie giggled. "That's incredible."  
"Amen to that." Tig nodded. "Good work, man."  
"I'd never fucking thought of that." Opie chuckled. "Who're the poor bastards on shit retrieval?"

"Juice, Sack and Chibs." Jax chuckled.

Tig did a double take. "What'd you have to do to get Chibs doing that?"

Jax and Bobby exchanged a glance. "We hopped on our bikes, broke the news to him and rode like hell." Bobby chuckled. "I could hear the Gaelic swears from down the road."

"Well, I'm proud of you, son, for stepping up and dealing with it." Piney said, firmly burying the feud they'd had earlier.

"Me too, told you you had a brain in there." Pixie added, gently knocking on Jax's temple. "Though I was a little worried I rattled it too much when I sent your ass to the mat." She continued, just not able to resist giving Jax a dig.

Jax chuckled. "You wantin' to take me on again?" He asked, playfully making a fist and tapping her stomach with it.

"Anytime, mate." She grinned at him.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

**Also here's a pic of some Eccles cakes in case you don't know what they are, they're round cakes made of flaky pastry with currants and candied peel inside :)**

****

****


	51. Family Reunion

Pixie was sitting in between Tig's legs as the guys chattered amongst themselves, exchanging raunchy jokes and jibes with each other. Pixie watched them interact with a smile, taking comfort in their voices as she idly played with Tig's bootlaces and leant with her back against the chair. Her eyes settled on Jax's face, he'd zoned out of the conversation some time ago and his fingers were toying with a loose thread on his hoodie, his blue eyes vacant and there were worry lines on his forehead. Pixie guessed that even though they were past the trouble for the time being, Jax was still well and truly stressed after keeping it bottled up for so long. Pixie decided that Jax was in need of support, so she clambered to her feet, kissed Tig on the cheek and then walked over to Jax, who didn't even acknowledge her presence until she gently kicked his trainer with the toe of her boot. He startled for a second before his mouth turned up in a smile and his brow furrowed in his signature questioning expression.

"C'mon." Pixie said grabbing his wrist and hauling Jax up to his feet.

"You gonna tell me where we're goin'?" Jax asked with a laugh as Pixie towed him out the back door and towards the tree where Opie had hung the swings.

"We're going up." Pixie announced as she climbed the tree, going higher than she did before. "C'mon slowpoke!" She called down to him.

"A'right, a'right." Jax laughed as he worked his way up the tree, trying to remember the last time he'd done this. He reached where Pixie had got herself to pretty easily and sat on the other side of the trunk to her, so they were level and could see each other, but were still supported. "Now we're up here, what're we doing?" He asked her. The golden light from the cabin's outdoor security light made their eyes glow.

"You go for height when you're upset or stressed, and since we can't get onto the cabin roof, and it doesn't look stable enough, I picked the next best thing." Pixie explained.

Jax nodded, finally understanding what Pixie was up to. "What makes you think I'm stressed?"  
Pixie stared up at the night sky, looking at all the stars and the phosphorescent moon. "Because today was hell for you, trying to come up with shit and keep everyone together so when Clay finally gets his butt out of the police station, he comes home to a fully functioning club, just the way he left it." Pixie explained, she watched Jax's face as he looked away from her, stony features letting her know she'd hit home. "In my humble opinion, and speaking solely from my experience here, so correct me if I'm wrong, Jackie boy, but being Vice President is the hardest position in the club. You're expected to be a leader, but stop when the president decides to take charge. You're expected to delegate jobs, choose which brother gets the worst end of the stick without stepping on nerves. You're supposed to be able to calm tempers, raise morals, protect, fight, bolster egos and keep track of everyone, day in, day out. You're the spokesperson for the club, the president's the figurehead, but the VP is the one who talks to all the allies, makes deals, forces hands, smooths over issues and sorts payouts. You're the person everyone approaches when they've got issues, so you hear about everyone's problems whilst nobody asks you about yours. You're supposed to deal with the minor issues so only the worst take up the president's time, and he thinks the whole operation is running smoothly whilst you're kicking like fury to keep everyone afloat. You're supposed to bring together drastically different brothers with drastically different experiences and get them to all agree on the same thing, which is like pushing magnets with the same sides facing together and expecting them to stick, so that when the president comes to the table, he sees his club unified, not divided." Pixie finished, still staring up at the stars. She looked across to Jax, who was looking at her with a mixture of emotions on his face, his mouth slightly open in shock as Pixie had taken the words right out of his mind, saying stuff he'd never spoken about, but dealt with on a daily basis.

"Any of this hitting home for you?" Pixie said with a little sombre laugh.

"Fuck, yeah." Jax said echoing her laugh, his eyes sparkling with unshed tears. "Nobody sees the shit we go through."

"Yeah, they see what we want them to see, you get good at hiding emotions in this position, but you don't have to hide anything with me, 'cause I'm the only other person here who gets it."

Jax nodded. "Everyone thought today was gonna be dramatic for me 'coz I would be taking over Clay's position whilst he was benched, but I did all the same shit I normally have to do, only this time, my orders were actually final and had the weight of Clay's. It was stressful 'coz I had to sort out multiple issues, not 'coz I was taking the gavel."

"Yeah, on the outside, people think the Presidents patch is difficult, but really you just get to call shots and delegate, then sit back and watch things happen."

"Exactly." Jax nodded. "And then the VP looks like the idiot when the president changes plans and doesn't bother telling anyone."  
"And we both know Clay's tendency to do that." Pixie chuckled.

"You don't trust him at all, do you?" Jax asked, studying Pixie's face.

"Between you and me, no, not at all. I wouldn't even trust him to hold my mug of tea."  
Jax chuckled at the analogy. "Why not?"

"He's a manipulative old sod who let money and his title get to his head. I see the way he views people, everyone's a pawn to him, and he's the goddamn king. You can defend him, and say that he has your back, that he has everyone's back, but do you really think that for the right price, he wouldn't take one of us out? I mean, he's blackmailing Oswald, even after everything that happened to Tristen, because he wants leverage. Clay's morality rests in his wallet. He'll do what everyone thinks is right to appease the masses and save face, but deep down, we both know that if he won't profit from it, he won't do it. He's manipulative too, he controls people in order to get them to do what he wants, how he responds to you, what side of him he shows you, it's all an act to control you. If he thinks he's lost that control over you, or if he thinks he doesn't have it in the first place, he'll do everything he can to get that control back. And if he can't, that scares him, because he hates not feeling powerful. He's also dangerously un-insightful, he takes everything for face value and doesn't have the brains to look at the reasons why people do the things that they do, or why things happen the way they play out, you're the one that provides him with that information and tells him what's really going on, which is why to me, you're my president and I got your back no matter what." Pixie explained, finally glad to get all her observations off of her chest.

Jax was silent for a while, his immediate response had been to defend Clay, but up in the tree, he didn't have to be Clay's fearless defender, he was just Jax, and he could see things through Pixie's perspective, see what she saw when he was focused on trying to keep the club together. "It's good to know you're in my corner, and that you know what I'm going through, it makes me feel less alone." Jax smiled at Pixie. "I get what you're sayin' about Clay, he hasn't shown you his good side yet, but I swear, he does have one. You see the best in everyone, and every situation, wo what's different about this one?"

"I'm an optimist, but I'm not as naive as to believe that a money-soured old man will change his ways, when he's been doing the same shit he's been doing since before I could even walk. Especially since he's so adamant to continue gun-running despite the amount of stress and trouble it's caused the club because it pays well. Plus you have to be a special type of cruel to continue selling guns, when you know that they're probably going to hurt or kill innocents, and not let that affect you in some type of way. I see the way it gets to you, every time we bring up the gun-running business, you want out, don't you?" Pixie asked.

"Yeah, I do. This was not the way my dad wanted the club to go, he wanted it to be legitimate, not this dangerous underground arms race that Clay wants. Why haven't you voiced your opinion on this to the others?"

"Because if I came storming in saying 'my club did it better and guns are bad', I'd have been forced onto the first train out of here, and you guys wouldn't have let me in. It isn't my place, nor my intention to tell you how to run your own club. Hell, I'm just a prospect now, so my voice doesn't carry any weight whatsoever, which is why I'm putting all my faith and support into you."

"Your voice and your opinion have weight to me, and to the others, Pix. You got a way of easily bringing the whole club together without even trying too hard, you're actually making my job a hell of a lot easier, kid. I like hearing what you have to say too, and I'm glad one Son wants the same thing I do at least." Jax nodded to Pixie. "You got any advice on how to turn the club business legit?"

Pixie shrugged. "Yeah, would that make you feel better? 'Cause thats my whole intention here, you're my brother now and I wanna see you relaxed and at ease."

Jax nodded. "Yeah, it's awesome to hear this stuff coming out of someone else, I don't feel as alone anymore." Jax smiled. "You're my sister too, Pixie, always." Jax said with a nod, his face didn't look so pinched and tense anymore and it looked as though a massive weight had been taken off his shoulders, Pixie smiled reaching across and fist bumping Jax's hand.

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie and Jax spent a good while up in the tree, talking through club business and their experiences with their clubs, comparing and advising. Eventually they felt it was time to go and rejoin the others, so began making their way down the tree. Opie opened the back door, looking for the pair of them.

"Jax? Pixie? Chibs is here." Opie called out as he approached the tree, still not seeing them. Pixie gave Jax a cheeky smirk and tipped herself upside down making claw hands and shouted "RAAAWR" just in front of Opie.

Opie jumped back, eyes wide. "Holy shit!" He exclaimed, making Jax and Pixie burst into a fit of laughter. Opie realised what was going on and pulled Pixie out of the tree. "Oh you are so dead, kid!" He laughed, throwing Pixie over his shoulder. "I'll chuck you in the river!"

"No! Opie!" Pixie giggled, hiccuping from laughing so hard, she wriggled around in his grip and caught sight of Jax sneaking up behind Opie. Jax jumped, grabbed Opie's beanie and ran off. Opie turned and saw his brother looking chilled out and happy, for the first time in ages, and clutching his hat.

"Jax!" He called out to him, he put Pixie down and ran after Jax who dodged him and the two of them ended up running in circles with Pixie cheering Jax on until Opie tackled Jax to the ground, the pair of them laughing and wrestling each other like they were kids again. Eventually Opie won and reclaimed his beanie, helping Jax up, they dusted themselves off and the three of them went back into the cabin, with Jax playfully shoving Pixie. As she caught sight of Chibs, a massive grin appeared on her face as Chibs mirrored her expression, putting her arms out wide for Pixie to jump up. She ran to him immediately, squealing his name in excitement. Chibs caught her, supporting her so she could put her legs around his middle and hug him tightly.

"Evenin' lassie. How's my wee scunner? Causing trouble, I see?"

"Good, and yeah, just messing around with Jax and Ope." Pixie smiled. "You okay?"

"Aye, issa good job I showered earlier." He chuckled as Pixie hugged him, putting her head down on his shoulder. Chibs sat down on the couch next to Tig, pulling Pixie's legs around so she could lean against him but could see the rest of the group, sensing Pixie needed to take comfort in her father figure.

"Oh yeah!" Pixie giggled, sitting up to look at Chibs' face. "I heard about how you got the short end of the stick today."  
"Aye, these feckin' bastards ran off, leavin' me, Sack and Juice ta go do their dirty business."

Pixie giggled watching Chibs give a middle finger to Bobby and Jax. "You gotta admit that it was better than being sent to prison. Jax did a good job today."

"Tha' he did. Proud of ye, Jackie boy." Chibs nodded.

"So where are the guns now?" Tig asked, stroking Pixie's knee.

"Currently bein' hosed down and unwrapped by Sack and Juicy. They're gonna bring 'em up once they're clean."

"Good, we'll sort them up here and figure out how to take down-" Jax paused as Pixie shot him a warning glance to be careful of what he said around Piney. "Take _them_ down to Meineke and his cronies." Jax finished. Pixie nodded approvingly.

Chibs watched the exchange with a smile, seeing how well Pixie was able to deal with the guys. He gently stroked the end of Pixie's ponytail and she turned her attention back to him, smoothing over his goatee where he'd scrubbed his face with a towel and not smoothed down the bristles, so they were going every which way. He smiled, jutting out his chin a little to make Pixie laugh. He studied her face, watching Pixie's hazel eyes as they looked over his goatee. Her eyes were almost amber coloured with grey-blue around the edges and bronze around her pupils. They complimented her caramel skin tone, and curly raven black hair. She reminded him of his biological daughter, Kerrianne. They looked very similar, he decided, though where Kerrianne had his straighter jawline, Pixie's face was more angular. Chibs wondered idly about Pixie's heritage, watching as she giggled about something Bobby said to her whilst she finished smoothing down his beard.

"You're looking at me." She smiled at him, hands going to look at the reaper tattoo on his left bicep, he was wearing a sleeveless black t-shirt which mean the tattoos on his arms were on full show.

"Course, I'm allowed to look at my kid." He teased, bouncing his legs to make her laugh. "'Specially when she's investigating my arm." He chuckled.

"Sorry, you always wear sleeves so I've never seen your reaper properly before." Pixie explained. "It's really cool, well detailed too."

"Thanks." He chuckled. "You gonna tell me wha' you've been up to fer the past two days?"

Pixie nodded and told him about all the fun she'd been having with Tig, carefully leaving out the non-PG rated activities, much to Tig's relief and amusement. She told Chibs about her baking sessions with Opie and Tig, and got excited when she remembered she'd hidden a few eccles cakes so Chibs would be able to have some in case he arrived late and the guys had eaten the ones on the plate. Chibs' heart melted at this fact, realising that Pixie had been thinking of him, even when they weren't together. As Pixie dashed off to get the cakes, he caught Tig's face as he watched Pixie go to the kitchen, he'd never seen his brother look at a girl in such a loving, tender way before, and Chibs relaxed a little, knowing that Tig was just as protective over Pixie as he was. She came back brandishing a beer bottle and a bowl with three eccles cakes in it.

"Here you go, Chibbie." Pixie smiled at him, passing him the supplies.

"Thanks, lassie, these look good!"

"Yay!" Pixie smiled at the compliment.

"Yay!" Bobby copied her, putting on a silly voice to mimic her and Pixie stuck her tongue out at him, which Bobby also copied. "You're silly." Pixie giggled.

" _You're_ silly!" Bobby continued to copy Pixie, making her laugh more. Pixie climbed on the sofa next to him and poked him, eager to continue goofing off with him. They playfully bickered with each other and it ended in Pixie jumping on him to make him laugh and messing with his hair. Pixie realised it was long enough to plait, and before Bobby could stop her, she'd given him two plaits, securing them in place with pink hair bobbles she'd had stashed away in her pocket. When she pulled back and the rest of the guys saw what she'd done, they burst out laughing, waking up Piney who'd nodded off in his La-Z-boy chair.

"Well hello, Bobbette." Tig jokingly flirted with him, making everyone laugh harder. Bobby pretended to fan himself like he was finding Tig hot and Pixie laugh-snorted, making the others chuckle. Over the noise, Pixie heard the sound of a van driving up the road, tyres crunching on the tree debris on the dirt driveway as it pulled in, headlights shining through the window. Pixie looked questioningly at the others.

"Probably Juicy with the guns." Chibs nodded, at his words, Pixie scrambled off of Bobby's lap and almost tripping over Opie's boot from where he sat in an armchair. He laughed and steadied her before she shot out the door.

Juice spotted his little sister figure fly out of the door and jumped out of the driver's seat, shutting the door and bracing himself for impact.

"Juice!" She yelped in excitement.

"Hey!" He greeted, letting out a little 'oof', as Pixie collided with him, wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace as she wrapped around him.

"I missed you!" She said into the side of his neck as she clung onto him. "You doing okay?"

"Much better now I'm with you." Juice said letting out a deep sigh and feeling then tension in his muscles relax, taking refuge in Pixie, inhaling her familiar strawberry scent.  
"OCD?" Pixie asked with understanding.

"Oh yeah, you don't wanna know the places it went to when I had to get the guns."

"Yikes, I thought so when Jax told me what you were doing. I got a little worried about how you were holding up."

"Yeah, I took like three hot showers before coming up here."

"If you want you can take more if you need to, the shower's clean in the cabin." Pixie offered.

"Nah, I think I'm good, I just need distraction, which is why I didn't want to wait for Sack to come up here. He's gone to see Cherry at the hospital."

"Well, I'm very good at distracting you, so you got nothing to worry about." Pixie giggled, booping his nose as Juice started walking towards the cabin, holding Pixie firmly in his arms. "H texted me about what happened with Cherry, Gemma's ridiculous."

"Scary. I think the word you're looking for is 'scary'." Juice chuckled. "You got food? I wasn't able to eat earlier, but now I'm with you, I think I'm hungry."

"We got leftover steak I can reheat for you, and I hid some eccles cakes from the others, don't tell Opie, he loves them." Pixie giggled.

"Don't tell me what?" Opie chuckled as he came down the steps to greet Juice.

Pixie giggled as Juice set her down. "Nothin' big guy."

Opie pretended to eye her suspiciously before giving her a playful shove as he went to fist bump Juice and get the guns from the van. Pixie towed Juice up the steps and inside where everyone greeted him. Juice smiled, relaxing further and then giving a puzzled expression to Bobby, who was still wearing his plaits.

"Pixie." Was all Bobby said with a slight chuckle as he took another swig of his beer.

"Ah." Juice said, knowing that was all the explanation he needed. He followed Pixie into the kitchen where she had already got a steak from the fridge and put it in the frying pan on the stove and added a touch of oil so it wouldn't dry out. Juice found a plate and Pixie told him to check the tupperware tub on top of the fridge, where he found a couple of eccles cakes which he sat down to eat on top of the counter near Pixie, so he could watch her cooking and chat to her. "I beat my highscore on 'Peggle' last night." He said with a chuckle.

"Ooh! Well done, bro! Peggle's fun." Pixie giggled.   
"Yeah, I like playing it when I need to chill, it makes a nice change from all the serious stuff."

"Yeah, we should have a Peggle night, just chill and forget about all the shit and the drama that the club gets involved in."

"Oh fuck yeah, we've been trying to do that for, like, a month." Juice laughed.

"I know! It's a little frustrating, but the club just seems to be having one drama after another, I'm hoping that now we've sorted this one, we'll have a break before the next issue comes knocking."

"Me too. Man, I'm glad you got a break, 'coz you really needed it, but I really missed you, _cariño._ "

Pixie put down the spatula after flipping Juice's steak and came over to him, standing in between his legs so she could reach up and hug her brother. "I'm here now, bro. You're not alone."

Juice rested his chin on the top of her head and hugged her close. "You know what I was thinking about the other day?"

Pixie looked up and shook her head. "No?"

"You speak better Spanish than me." Juice chuckled. "I only know enough to form rough sentences, but nothing really above child level, and a few phrases from listening to my loud neighbours back in the apartment building I grew up in in Queens."

Pixie giggled. "According to my old Spanish teacher in school, I have a knack for languages. She used to call me 'Lora', it means 'chatterbox' or 'parrot' because I was able to mimic the phrases she'd say, and I just found it funny to copy her, I was a total class clown and to keep myself occupied I'd make up bizarre sentences and accidentally taught myself Spanish in the process." Pixie explained. "She was one of the few teachers that could actually handle me and my ADHD."

Juice pulled back and looked down at Pixie. "ADHD? It all makes sense now." He teased.

"What does?"  
"You're goofiness." Juice chuckled, earning him a little light-hearted smack from Pixie as she turned his steak over and then came back to poke him in the ribs. "If you're a little parrot, then I guess we'd better be careful about what we say around you, huh?"

"Yeah, Bruce accidentally taught me how to swear when I was two, and then spent the next year with a toddler who liked to yell "fuck" whenever she got bored, which was often."

Juice laughed, imagining a baby version of Pixie running around yelling 'fuck'. "Oh no."

"I can also swear in Russian too." Pixie informed him. "Also taught to me by accident in my early childhood years. Su-ka, mu-dak, ye-bat, and svo-lach. They mean scum or jerk, shithead, fuck, and bitch." Pixie said with a grin and a laugh. "Viktor got chewed out for saying them in front of me." She took the steak off the frying pan and served it with some salad leaves, passing it over to Juice after he hopped down from the counter.

"This is great, thanks, Pix." Juice said as his stomach rumbled. They walked back into the main room together and Juice flopped down on the other side of Chibs on the sofa as Bobby, Jax, Tig and Opie had pulled out a circular table from somewhere and were checking over the guns and getting ready to load them up into the sacks of birdseed. Chibs put his arm out for Pixie to come sit and she happily crawled into his lap. Juice suddenly looked up at Pixie with a grin. "I just remembered a few spanish swear words, you wanna hear 'em?"

Pixie nodded eagerly as Chibs raised an eyebrow as he looped his arms around her. "Yeah!"  
"Qué cabrón, hijo de puta, and Mierda. They mean bastard, son of a bitch and shit." Juice laughed. Pixie echoed him immediately, her accent pretty much spot on, apart from the giggles. "There you go, now you can swear in three languages." Juice smirked. "What an achievement."

"I'll put it on my resume." Pixie giggled.

"Are you being a bad influence Juicy boy?" Chibs joked, giving him a playful kick.

"Pixie started it, she swore in Russian." Juice defended himself.

Confused, Chibs looked at her and Pixie giggled, turning to look at him. "Ye-bat."

Chibs pretended to get mad, putting his arm loosely around Pixie's neck to pull her up against his chest, she wriggled and giggled against him. "Wha' did ye just say ta me?" He growled, nuzzling her temple. Juice picked up on Tig looking up immediately from what he was doing to check Pixie wasn't actually in trouble. Satisfied that Pixie was safe with Chibs he carried on.

"I said, fuck!" Pixie squealed giggling as Chibs tickled her stomach. Her exclamation had the rest of the cabin inhabitants laughing at the way she said it.

Chibs put his head back laughing. "Yer a funny one, my wee bairn."

☠️☠️☠️

When Clay finally made it to the cabin, Pixie greeted him with a hug, but Jax noticed the significant lack of excitement that she'd had when the other Sons had arrived earlier in the evening.

"Hey Play-Doh! Coppers let you out?" She smiled warmly.

"Hey, kid. Yeah, they got nothin' on me." Clay smiled, obviously resigned to his new nickname.

"Welcome home!" Chibs cheered, getting up from the sofa and giving him a hug.

"Welcome back, bro." Jax came to greet him with a hug too, watching Pixie saunter into the kitchen to get Clay a beer.

"Look who's here." Bobby nodded, hugging his old friend too.

"Glad to have you back, man." Tig pulled him in for a hug too.

"Hey boss!" Juice nodded to him as Clay flopped down, exhausted into one of the chairs set up at the gun table next to Opie and Piney. Pixie came out with a beer and passed it to him.

"So, where are we up to?" Clay asked. Jax put his hands on the back of another chair, leaning on them. Pixie went to stand in between Tig and Chibs, as everyone listened in to the full run down Jax had been saving until Clay arrived.

"Well, the fed trashed the clubhouse." Jax said, letting it sink in for all of the Sons who hadn't been down there when it happened to see the aftermath, Pixie instantly started fiddling with her hands and Chibs and Tig exchanged a glance before each man grabbed a hand each to stop her, and calm Pixie's anxiety. "The search turned up nothin'." Jax continued. "We got the guns out." Jax nodded.

"No, wait a minute, wait a minute." Chibs said loudly. " _Jackie boy_ , got all tha' guns out." He said with a proud smile and a wink, pointing to him.

"Good." Clay nodded, looking proudly at Jax. Jax smiled, knowing he'd done a good job. Clay exhaled and rubbed his face, signalling he was about to offload how his day had gone and everyone listened in. "ATF's got shit. It's all smoke."  
"Yeah, well they were onto the oil barrels." Bobby informed him, recalling what had happened in the raid.

"Yeah, well we'll have to find a smarter way to get the guns in is all." Clay sighed, it looked like he was struggling to stay awake and Pixie wondered what he could have possibly been doing sitting in an interrogation room all day that was that exhausting, she put it down to him being an old man who's joints were failing. "By the time the warehouse is rebuilt, we'll be a distant memory for the A,T and F."

"Mom home?" Jax asked.

Clay took a swig of his beer. "Wouldn't let me post bail."

Jax laughed with the others. "Shit! She is pissed!" Jax grinned, knowing his mom's tendencies.

"Yeah." Clay said with a groan. "That she is."

"Well, we're handlin' Meineke and his crew. Piney set up a meet for tomorrow. We're gonna clear this up." Jax assured Clay. Piney grimaced but looked like he was ready to accept his old friend's fate. He caught Pixie's worried eye and nodded to her gently, silently assuring her that he was okay.

"You know what? I'm tired, and my head hurt, and you'll handle it." He said to Jax, heaving his broad frame up from the chair and walking slowly towards the bigger of the two bedrooms. Jax watched him go with concern on his face, but let him go. "I'm just gonna crash here tonight." Clay told him.

"Talk in the daylight." Jax said as a form of 'goodnight'.

"In the daylight." Clay said dismissively, giving a vague wave over his shoulder to the room.

Pixie wandered over to Jax. "You okay, bro?"

"Yeah, you? Lookin' a little worried there." Jax said resting his forearms on Pixie's shoulders in a loose hug.

"Yeah, just thinking about the clubhouse."

"I know, that's why I didn't tell you until now, 'coz I knew how you'd get. My room seems to have taken the brunt of it, though your mattress is totalled and the whole place is a mess, including the church."

"Oh fuck." Pixie said sadly, Jax could see how much she was struggling with it, and guessed that she was still shaken up about her Highton Clubhouse being taken down.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's not as bad as your thinkin', I promise, darlin'. Nothin' a morning's work won't fix, a few repairs and a couple of orders from the furniture store, and it'll be as good as new. Nah, as good as when _you_ did that major clean up." Jax said, catching Pixie's eye and giving her a comforting smile. Besides, that clubhouse is just a building, we're what make it a home, and that's something ATF can never take away." He stroked Pixie's cheek and then hugged her tightly, kissing the top of her head.

"Thanks, Jax." Pixie said, her voice muffled against his chest.

"S'a'ight, darlin', now what's gonna make you smile again, huh?" Jax crooned, trying to think of something that would make Pixie laugh, he recalled Chibs finding a ticklish spot on Pixie's stomach, Jax grabbed Pixie, turning her around so he could pin her against his front and tickled her stomach. Pixie giggled in surprise, trying to grab Jax's hands and failing. "That better?" Jax chuckled, joining in with Pixie's contagious laugh.

"Qué cabrón!" Pixie giggle-hiccuped making the other Sons laugh. Jax let her go, only to have her turn around and tackle him to the ground, returning the favour.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	52. Author's Note!

**Thanks to everyone who's left kudos, commented, and bookmarked my story recently. You're all wonderful people and I really hope you're enjoying Pixie and the Sons!**


	53. The Hustle

****(Following chapters are loosely based off of the "Old Bones" episode)** **

Pixie, Half-Sack, and the other Sons had spent most of the morning clearing up the garage, the church and main room of the clubhouse, trying to get the most vital parts of headquarters up and running as soon as possible, now ATF had fully left them alone. Jax had gone up to the hospital to see Abel first thing in the morning and to check Tara hadn't had any trouble with Kohn. Tig could see Pixie's nerves were frazzled from cleaning up for so long and seeing her home in such disarray, so he suggested everyone have a break outside since the weather was warm. Half-Sack and Lowell, who'd become friends from working in the garage together, decided to have a go in the boxing ring to knock off some steam and show off to Cherry. She was cheering Half-Sack on ringside with Chibs, who due to his boxing experience, was keeping an eye on them to make sure there were no foul shots and was interested to see Half-Sack's techniques. Pixie sat in between Tig's legs on the bench as he sat smoking on the table and chattered to Bobby. Tig was watching how Pixie had her head cocked to one side and was studying the match with an eagle eye as her leg bounced, showing how hard she was focusing.

"Half-Sack! Boombaye! Get in there kid!" Chibs yelled to him, referencing Muhammed Ali.

"Keep your hands up, Lowell!" Bobby yelled, seeing how Half-Sack had boxed Lowell into the corner of the ring and was whaling on him, clearly getting a kick out of showing off to Cherry. Pixie got up and went to Chibs' side, watching intently. Tig had never seen Pixie this focused on something before, he guessed that it was due to her boxing experience, but it was still interesting to watch how she reacted, her hands almost making little fists and jerks like she was reacting to Half-Sack's move set.

"Now you're getting cocky! Anyone can beat up a junkie, prospect! It doesn't mean shit!" Chibs jeered, earning him a slap upside the head from Pixie, who drew her attention away to scold him.

"Be kind!" She hissed at him.

Chibs chuckled, realising he'd gone too far. "Sorry, sweethar'." He pulled her against him and kissed her temple in a fatherly manner.

"S'okay." Pixie smiled up at him. "Though if you keep on like that I'm gonna challenge you to put your fists where your mouth is." Pixie continued, earning her some 'ooohs' from Bobby and Tig. Chibs chuckled and the pair of them roughhoused with each other whilst Clay parked up his bike.

"Things all better with the little missus now?" Tig asked in greeting.

"Well, my balls are still attached." Clay answered with a smirk. He caught sight of Lowell and Half-Sack in the ring, just as Half-Sack delivered a hefty punch, knocking Lowell down into the ropes. "Shit, Lowell, get out of there!" Clay chided. "Who's idea was this?" He asked, coming over to the table.  
"Tig's!" Bobby pointed.

"Bobby's!" Tig pointed back.

"I don't mind it, Clay, I'm just helping Half-Sack train." Lowell said as he heaved himself to his feet. Pixie untangled herself from Chibs and went back to the ring to help Lowell out.

"Yeah, well you killed enough brain cells, c'mon, back to work." Clay ordered. Pixie wondered if Clay actually had a soft spot for Lowell, considering if it was anyone else in the ring, he'd be cheering for them to kick each other's asses. She helped Lowell down and undid his gloves.

"You did really good, buddy." She told him. "If he backs you into the corner again, duck and weave next time, or go for a punch to the side and use the momentum to knock him sideways and push yourself out of that spot." Pixie explained.

"Thanks, Pixie." Lowell smiled as she got him a towel before he ambled off. Half-Sack was leaning over the ropes talking to Cherry, so Pixie climbed up onto the ropes.

"Hey, H, fancy another round?"

"What? With you? No way!" Half-Sack's eyes went wide. Chibs came over to see what was going on.

"Oh c'mon buddy! I think of you as my little brother, so obviously I'm not gonna kill you, and I've got fourteen years boxing experience, so training with me will give you a better understanding of your own capabilities." Pixie explained.

"Like that makes me feel any better, besides, I'm four years older than you!"

"Let her have a go, ye bastard." Chibs cheered. Pixie sat down and gave him her kutte. She was dressed in a lilac t-shirt, matching converse and black denim shorts. Tig had encouraged her to wear the shorts, seeing as it was hot out and all the Sons knew about her scars and her prosthetic.

"Okay, fine, just don't break my nose, okay?" Half-Sack warned her.

"I promise, buddy!" Pixie said excitedly as Chibs finished putting her gloves on. She got up and jumped the ropes, smacking her gloves together and pushing her plaits behind her shoulders. Tig, Bobby and Clay realised what was happening and stopped discussing Lowell to watch.

"Kick his ass, baby!" Tig called over.

"Three, two, one, GO!" Chibs called. Half-Sack went up on his toes, and darted back and forth, trying to gauge what Pixie would do first, she copied his movements and took a step forward, putting her forearms up to protect her head and punched with her left fist first, throwing Half-Sack off as he'd been expecting her right first, so didn't dodge in time and it hit home on his sternum, knocking him back with more force than he'd been expecting. Pixie moved her right arm to land another blow and Half-Sack used her opening her defences to land a blow to her jaw, knocking her head back. Pixie staggered back, but kept herself upright, she turned her head back to face him and Half-Sack regretted it immediately. Pixie's eyes had gone darker and predatory as she stalked forwards. The Sons watching cheered her on, and shouted out encouragement for both fighters. Half-Sack dodged and ducked Pixie's fists and landed another hit to her chin before Pixie cornered him, landing blow after blow to his head and chest, faster than Half-Sack could cope with and he put his arms up in defence and dropped to the mat in a sort of fetal position. Chibs jumped the ropes and separated the pair of them out.

"Since when is turning into a ball a boxing technique?" Pixie giggled. "You remind me of a little tortoise, pulling all it's limbs inside its shell."

"I panicked!" Half-Sack said indignantly, his nose bloody and his eye already starting to swell. "You're too fast!"

"You could've easily stopped me with a block or a side blow." Pixie explained. "I didn't hurt you too badly, did I?" She said looking a little worried as Chibs checked the younger man over.

"No, you just bruised my self-esteem more than anything." He grumbled.

"Sorry, mate." Pixie giggled, pulling him in for a quick hug.

"I think you did really good!" Cherry said encouragingly. Half-Sack smiled and jumped the ropes, coming to his girl's side as she sat him down on a bench to fuss over his bruises.

Pixie turned to Chibs. "That was fun!"

"Aye, you've got an interestin' thing goin' on wit' yer fists, you don't seem ta have a weaker one, or a dominant one, so it's harder to predict what yer gonna use."  
"Perks of being ambidextrous." Pixie grinned. She spotted Jax as he parked up and strode over. "Jackie boy!"  
"Hey pipsqueak, back in the ring?"  
"Yeah! I just did a round with Half-Sack, you want a go?"

"Hell no, not today. C'mere though, need a word." Jax beckoned, Pixie slid out the ropes and jogged over to him.

"Just confronted Kohn, he's in a silver rental car now, I took Tara back to her place after her shift and he followed us the entire way. I gave him a warning, and I've just got back from informing Hale, you were right, Tara's got a restraining order on him from her time in Chicago. The fucker's an old flame turned psycho-stalker."

Pixie swore under her breath. "Oh geez, he's not gonna listen to your warning, Jax, if anything, that's going to infuriate him more. You need to make sure Tara's with somebody at all times until we can figure out how to get rid of Kohn."  
"Hale said he was gonna handle it, so we'll see how that plays our first, otherwise we'll have to put a protection plan in place." Jax huffed. "Good work figuring all this stuff out though, we need brains like yours." Jax nodded, fist bumping Pixie's gloved fist and giving her a wink before he pulled over a keg to sit down next to Clay and the others. Pixie danced up to Tig and pretended to punch him, giggled when he pulled her into his lap and kissed her cheek.

"You did good, babe. Hell of a round." He praised.

Clay, who had seemed to be deep in thought, suddenly looked up. "How much money gets thrown around at these -uh- bare fist things?" Pixie raised an eyebrow trying to work out what she'd missed from the conversation.

"The purse is okay, but it's the betting that's gone crazy." Tig emphasised. "I know a couple guys last year who made six figures each."

Clay looked intrigued. "Really?"  
"We hustling boxing matches?" Pixie asked. "I did that at Highton, used to come in all shy and nervy, let them go to town on me for a couple rounds rotation, so everyone betted on my opponents thinking they were gonna get an easy final win before they went home. The Sons would place their bets on me, then I knocked my last opponent to the curb on the last round. Used to make stupid amounts of money." Pixie finished. The Sons looked at her with collective bewildered expressions. "What?" She giggled. "I'm not as innocent as you guys believe. Hustling's one of the things I do best, I'm good at fighting, so I used it for the betterment of my club."

Chibs was the first to speak. "Pixie could knock any of those lightweights out, any day of the week." he said, giving Pixie's shoulder a comforting shake. "We could use her help."

"What'd we pull together for McKeevy?" Clay asked.

"A hundred and twenty." Bobby answered.

"Who's McKeevy?" Pixie asked. There was a pause as the Sons tried to work out what to say without saying he was connected to the IRA.

"Old friend 'o' mine, we own him a large debt and if we don't pay him, we lose an ally." Chibs explained quickly.

"If Pixie limps through the first three rounds, and then K.O.'s the unlucky bastard in the final round, we can control the bets, it could be a huge payout." Bobby thought aloud.

Pixie nodded. "M'kay. I'm happy to help if we need it, I haven't been training properly, but I can start that up again immediately." She felt Tig's grip on her tighten protectively.

"Are you sure this could work? I mean, What if they hurt you too bad? Or catch on too quick?" Tig voiced his concerns.

"I've been hustling for a long time, I know how to take hits and land properly without taking too much damage, and I reserve my energy for the final round where I use it to take the guy down, it's worked so many times before, Tiggy. It's okay." She kissed his cheek before getting to her feet. "Besides, who would you guys rather bet your hard earned money on?" She asked the group, pulling Tig up to stand next to her. "A five-two skinny girl, or a six-foot fighter?"

Jax nodded. "No offence, but my money'd go straight on Tig, you'd look too much like you wandered in by accident."

"None taken, Jackie boy, that's exactly why I hustle, people take one look at me and think I have no chance. Hell, I mean all you geezers did that exact thing on my first day here where I went toe-to-toe with Jax."

"Kids got a point." Clay nodded, looking at Tig, who still didn't look like he was on board.  
"Yeah, but what if you snap? I mean Half-Sack hit you twice and you pummelled him, baby." Tig argued.

"Well duh, I wasn't hustling then, that was me just having fun." Pixie giggled, trying to reason with him. "I can see you're getting protective over me, so why don't we have a trial run." Pixie offered, turning back to the rest of the group. "If I take Tig on in the ring, let him get in some hits, show you how well I can take 'em, and then take him down, would that settle all your minds?"  
Clay considered it. "Sure, I mean, if this goes well, we could easily halve the debt in one night."

"Exactly, there's no way we're raising eighty grand in the next four days, so this could be our best shot." Jax said.

"Tiggy? What about you?" Pixie said, turning back to him.

"I dunno, doll, I mean if you can take me down, that'd let me know you could deal with any bastard in the ring, but I don't like the idea of hitting you."  
"It's just a boxing match, what happens in the ring is just sport, nothin' else." Pixie reminded him.

"C'mon, let her do it." Chibs nodded.  
"Okay, fine, _fine_. But I swear to god if you cry..." Tig grumbled.

"I won't, go get ready, tough guy." Pixie grinned, watching Tig take off his kutte and his rings, laying them out on the bench before he went to get the gloves from Chibs. Pixie climbed into the ring as Bobby, Clay, and Jax gathered round to watch. Tig jumped the ropes and went to his corner. "Don't hold back or else I'll hit you twice as hard." Pixie grinned.

Tig chuckled, picking up on Pixie's cockiness. "I won't, so get ready."

"Born ready." Pixie grinned.

"Three, two, one, GO!" Chibs announced. Pixie's stance changed completely, instead of the honed fighter that the Sons were used to seeing, Pixie seemed to shuffle around, uncertainty on her face, like she was a complete novice, and she reacted much slower to Tig's jabs as he came at her. Tig kept up his end and his fist smacked into Pixie's chest. She let out a gasp and hit the mat, rolling before pulling herself to her feet and trying to land a punch to Tig, which he easily blocked and punched her side. Pixie squeaked, backed up and tried to dodge as he punched her in the chest again, sending her to the mat. This pattern continued and the Sons were surprised by how well Pixie was holding back, she was landing just enough hits to make it look like she knew roughly what she was doing, but was just wildly outmatched by Tig. Pixie landed on her back after a particularly brutal hit to her chest and Chibs couldn't hold back any longer, he smacked the mat.

"Pixie! Get him!" He yelled, Pixie did a martial arts kick up, landing on her feet effortlessly and came at Tig like there was no tomorrow. It was such a sudden shift that Tig had barely any time to react as Pixie's fist collided with his jawbone and his head shot to the side, he staggered and Pixie rained down on him, her fighting style back on top form as the rest of the Sons cheered on in excitement. Bobby had to hand it to Pixie, she really knew how to work a crowd and keep them captivated. Pixie cornered Tig and it became a much more even fight, though Tig was tired from knocking Pixie down so many times, that his reactions were much slower. Tig hit back as much as he could, but had to keep resorting to blocking just to stop Pixie's torrent of hits. He managed to get out of the corner and as he moved to get past Pixie, she jumped up, punching Tig's temple, he lost his balance and went down on his knees as his vision went fuzzy. He tried to get back up but Pixie landed two more hits to his head. Pixie watched as Tig looked at her with a vacant expression on his face.

"Marry me." He slurred before his head rolled back and he collapsed down onto the mat.

"Holy shit!" Bobby exclaimed. "He's out!"

Pixie was already at Tig's side, turning him over into the recovery position as Chibs jumped in to give her a hand. Tig let out a groan as he came to, and opened his eyes to see Pixie and Chibs staring down at him.

"The fuck happened?" He asked as Chibs felt Tig's head and neck, satisfied that his brother wasn't seriously hurt, he started chuckling, causing Clay, Bobby and Jax burst out laughing.

"Pixie knocked you on your ass so hard you proposed." Bobby informed him with a grin. "Never living that one down, brother."

"What?" Tig's brow furrowed.  
"Just before you passed out you asked me to marry you. That's a 'no' by the way, I generally like my dates fully conscious when they ask me life-changing questions." Pixie giggled.

"Ye alright ye bastard?" Chibs asked, still chuckling as he helped Tig sit up.

Tig shook his head, trying to clear the fog. "I'm okay, I'm okay." He brushed Chibs off of him.

"You sure? I genuinely didn't mean to knock you out, I just wanted you to stay down." Pixie said sheepishly, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Tig chuckled. "Well, I'm never doubting you again, baby."

"You're not mad?" Pixie asked, eyes wide, nose slightly scrunched.

"Nah, you proved your point, and it's like you said, this is just sport." Tig nodded. "I feel fine though, I've had worse knockouts." Tig assured everyone.

"Well, just to be safe, no riding or driving today, you wanna go anywhere you're riding in the van, or on the back of someone's bike." Clay ordered.

"No way! I'm good!" Tig jumped to his feet.

"It's probably for the best, tough guy." Pixie reasoned with him. "Please follow orders, do it for me?" She asked him, putting her arms around his middle.

Tig exhaled grumpily. "Fine. Nobody's touching my bike though."

"Good, well that's settled then. Take fifty grand, I wanna see it triple. Chibs, you're gonna train Pixie up, get her ready for the fight." Clay ordered.

"Aye. I can do that." Chibs nodded.

"And Pixie, no booze-"

"I don't drink." Pixie informed him.

"No weed-"

"Do I look like I smoke?" Pixie asked him with a laugh.

"And no Tiggy." Clay concluded, finally finding something to one-up Pixie on.

"What? You serious? I took down H and Tig in rapid succession whilst spending time with Tig, being separated from him isn't gonna change anything for the better. I'm not like you where you draw your frustrations and anger from not getting a good lay. I actually have techniques that aren't old wife's tales." Pixie fought back.

"Well, you'll just have to use your frustrations you got with me taking Tig away then, won't ya?" Clay smirked back before getting up and moving over to Bobby. Pixie let out a growl and Chibs stepped forwards putting his arms securely around Pixie's shoulders making sure she wasn't going to go for Clay's throat. "Bobby, do me a favour, push up on that Nevada Cherry."

"Really?" Bobby asked, confused.

"Really." Clay confirmed.

"Halfy-Sack is all about that now, though."

"Well, I wanna see if she's all about him. And go at it hard." Clay nodded before moving off with Jax. Pixie extracted herself from Chibs' grip and moved over to Bobby, not liking what she'd just heard at all. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the side.

"Bobby, I promise you, if I catch you forcing Cherry into anything, peanut butter sandwiches are gonna be the least of Elvis' worries, you hear me?" She hissed at him.

Bobby shifted his weight, being taken aback by this protective side of Pixie. "All I'm gonna do is see if she's gonna be faithful to Halfy, or if she wants to spend time with me, see if she'll oblige my request."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Then I'll back off, I promise, girly. I don't wanna be on the receiving end of your left hook." Bobby chuckled. "Okay?"  
Pixie relaxed. "Okay, good. I trust you, Bobs."

"Good, we good here?"

"Yeah." Pixie nodded, smiling, she gave him a quick hug, which Bobby responded to with a chuckle. They walked back over to the group to see Jax Tig and Clay huddled together.  
"What's happening?" Pixie asked.

"Some old bones have just been found out on forty-four." Jax said. Pixie watched as Clay and Tig exchanged an uneasy glance. Jax, picking up on it too looked over at Tig.

"What?" He asked.

"I dunno." Tig said nonchalantly, trying not to meet Pixie's gaze as he could tell she was seeing straight through him. Jax also didn't look particularly convinced either.

"You guys gonna go check it out?" Pixie asked as Chibs put an arm around her shoulder.

"Yeah." Jax nodded. He made to move off with Tig and Clay and then turned round. "I want you to come too."  
Pixie looked thoroughly taken aback. "Me?" she asked, thinking he may have meant Chibs.

Jax chuckled at her expression. "Yeah, you. You're good at piecing things together, could be useful, plus Tig's gonna need a lift."

Pixie looked up at Chibs. "That okay, Chibbie?"

Chibs nodded. "Yeah, be back soon, lassie, we need to start training." He passed Pixie her Sons kutte and helped her put it on. She gave him a quick hug before running after Jax. They got to their bikes to find Clay and Tig arguing about him not being able to use his bike.

"Hey, hey!" Jax called gaining both their attention. "Got you a ride, you're good." Jax grinned as Pixie got on her bike.

"Why's she here?" Clay asked.

"Pixie's smart, she's good at thinking under pressure, we may need her for this." Jax shrugged. "Plus she's about the only one of us able to get Tig to do anything he doesn't wanna do." Jax chuckled.

Pixie patted the pillion seat behind her on her bike as she started up her bike, ginning at him. "C'mon Tiggy!"

"Told you to separate." Clay barked at Pixie.  
"I'm not training yet though, am I?" She smirked at him. Clay growled and shook his head.

Jax got on his bike and pulled on his helmet. Tig grumpily sat behind Pixie, clipping his helmet buckle and wrapping his arms around her middle as she pulled on her iconic pink full face helmet and slid down her visor. She let Clay and Jax ride out together and took up the rear.

☠️☠️☠️

Even though Tig would much rather have been on his own motorcycle, and he knew he'd never hear the end of riding on a pink motorbike from his club brothers, he liked being close to Pixie and watching her being completely in her element. She was a very good rider, and he felt at ease behind her, his nerves further settled by the fact that riding with Pixie gave him an excuse to snuggle right up against her, his large hands fanning out on her stomach, gently stroking and feeling her core muscles work as she rode. Her back was pressed against his front and Pixie realised Tig couldn't get closer if he tried. She wondered if he was trying to get in all the contact he could get before she started her fight training, Pixie also wondered how long Tig would be able to keep away before he started sneaking around after her. Pixie pulled into a secluded spot off of the road behind Clay and Jax.

"Put your bike in the bushes, we're gonna climb the hill so we can see what's up." Jax motioned. Tig got off the back and Pixie took off her helmet and put her bike with the other men's. The four of them began climbing up the short but steep grassy hill, Tig using this ascent as an excuse to hold Pixie's hand and waist under the pretence of keeping her steady. They reached top and stood in between two trees, watching the scene some distance off, where the coroners and the cops were combing the scene and sorting out the poor workers who had found the bones in the first place.

"Wheeling two bodies out." Jax said pointing to the coroners wheeling away the stretchers.

"There should be three." Tig said grimly. Pixie and Jax's heads whipped round at the same time, and if Tig wasn't so uncomfortable about old club secrets being unearthed, he'd have found it comical.

"I'm afraid to ask." Jax said with a 'you gotta be kidding me' smile.

"Don't be, there it is." Tig said pointing to the last stretcher being carried away. He put his other arm around Pixie, pulling her closer to his side.

"This us?" Jax asked after a moment of watching the crime scene, he turned to Clay and Pixie watched as the president sighed nodded.

"Yeah." He said after a pause.

"Aw, shit." Jax sighed, knowing that the club was going to be in some deep trouble, once again.

"Should've used quicklime." Pixie piped up. All three men turned their attention to her with puzzled expressions.

"What?" Clay asked.

"Quicklime? Calcium carbonate? C'mon guys, you seriously telling me none of you know what that is?" Pixie asked in disbelief. "It's a white powder used for a load of different things, but you can get it in sacks for agricultural use as it acts as a nutrient for the plants you put with it. It also rapidly speeds up the decaying process of bodies and degrades bones down to nothing, meaning if they're uncovered, you're lucky if you're even gonna get fragments, and there'll be no way to use them for DNA analysis." Pixie explained.

"I-I don't even wanna know how you know this." Jax said.

Pixie shrugged. "GCSE chemistry class in school."

"The fuck kind of school did you go to?" Jax chuckled. 

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	54. Old Bones

As soon as the group arrived back at TM, Clay put the call out to go straight into church. Pixie didn't expect to be a part of this particular meeting, sensing that it was old club secrets come back to haunt them, so she was thoroughly surprised when she made to go clear out the utility room debris, and was instead hauled back out by Jax who'd gone into church, done a headcount and realised she was absent.

"I'm a part of this?" She asked him.

"Yeah, I want to see where you land on all this, especially as you were picking up on all the same cues as I was earlier. You're like a little bullshit detector and I wanna know exactly what's going on." He told her. "It's like you said in the tree, we've gotta work together."  
Pixie nodded. "Can I get 'bullshit detector' as a patch for my kutte?" She giggled. "In all seriousness though, both Clay and Tig are freaking out, whoever those poor sods were, Clay doesn't want you to find out."

"Noted." Jax nodded before looping his arm around Pixie and taking her into church. Bobby, Clay, Chibs and Tig looked up as Jax and Pixie walked in. Jax took his seat on Clay's left next to Bobby and Pixie stood slightly awkwardly for a second, before Chibs slid across to the spare seat on his left and patted the one he'd vacated for her, so Pixie would be able to sit in between him and Tig. Clay raised his eyebrow, but said nothing as the rest of the Sons smiled at Pixie, surprised that Jax had brought her in. Chibs patted her back whilst Clay caught him and Bobby on what had been happening and that the three bodies were dead Mayans. Pixie pulled her knees up in her signature sitting pose and began twisting Happy's ring around her finger and thumb whilst she listened, her eyes scanned Clay's face.

"So all three of them were Mayans?" Jax said after he took in Clay's explanation, catching Pixie's eye for a second. Tig rubbed the skin between his eyebrows at the top of his nose with two fingers. Picking up on this and sensing his tension, Pixie pulled his hand away from his face and gently grasped it, watching him for his reactions, knowing Tig was one of the worst at hiding how he was feeling. He was definitely uncomfortable with Clay's explanation.

"Yep. Back in ninety-two." Clay recalled. "Mexicans tried to expand their Oakland dope base, set up a charter in Lodi. We couldn't let that happen." Clay said looking to Chibs and Pixie, the only two at the table who hadn't been there at the time. "It was a bloody two years. Bodies dropped."

"Yeah, I remember." Jax nodded. "That was right around the time my old man died." At the mention of the death of Jax's father, Pixie exchanged a heartfelt condolences glance with him. Jax smiled at her in return.

"That's right." Clay nodded sombrely.

"We gotta stop the P.D. from ID-ing those bodies." Tig suddenly voiced his concern. "If they flag up Mayans, we're their next stop."

Pixie nodded. "Sixteen years ago is still well within living memory, if those old bones have living relatives, they're gonna be pissed. Then we'll have the police and the Mayans on our doorstep, and there's only so many sleepy-coffees I can make." Pixie put in. Jax nodded, smiling at her reference.

"Well, we can pull the teeth to stop the ID, but they can still DNA test." Jax informed them.

"Right, plus, it'll be a bit obvious if three full sets of pearly whites go missing, coroners will catalogue everything that goes through their morgue the second they get it in, plus there's photos of the crime scene, which will clearly show three heads, with three sets of intact teeth. If you wanted the teeth, you should've got them out when you stuck them in the ground in the first place." Pixie explained. "Just saying." She added when all the Sons turned to look at her wide-eyed.

"Forensic tests on three bodies? That would blow half of Unser's yearly budget." Bobby put in.

"But if Hale thought it would hurt us, he'd get his new fed buddies to float the cost." Clay argued back.

"True, though, do ATF deal with bodies or is that a whole other department?" Pixie asked.

"ATF deal with firearms, tobacco and explosives. Why?" Clay asked.

"Well, if they have to get the FBI involved or something, that would take time, which would buy _us_ more time, but if they're able to go full force investigation, and have the people to do it, we're at a massive disadvantage."

"Depends on how badly they want to pin this. I'll talk to Unser, see if I can get an idea." Jax answered. "But Pixie's right, there's no way we can get rid of all the DNA evidence."

"Shit, man, this was pre-O.J, right?" Tig exclaimed, thinking aloud. "We weren't thinkin' about DNA back in ninety-three." He smiled, reminiscing on simpler times, before his eyes went wide and the smile disappeared as he realised how deeply the Sons could be in trouble. "What kind of clues we got buried with those Mexicans?" He finished, eyes glaring at the table as he contemplated.

"Is that rhetorical?" Pixie asked, rubbing his arm.

"If they don't know they're Mexicans, they won't take it any farther." Chibs said seriously.

"We stop the identification, we stop the investigation." Clay nodded.

"Even if you take the teeth, the bones will be able to show who the bodies were, you can tell race, age, and gender from bones. All it'll take is an experienced coroner to decide to look into the three John Does." Pixie said grimly, trying to get her point across. "They were all John's right?"  
"Yeah. How do you know so much about dead bodies anyways, darlin'?" Tig asked, voicing what the other Sons had been thinking.

Pixie shrugged. "Research for keeping the Sons out of trouble whenever we had to dispatch an enemy."

"You scare me a little, girlie." Bobby chuckled. "How much time would that take, sorting out the bones to see if they're Mexican?" Bobby enquired.

Pixie considered it. "Not sure, they wouldn't want to rush it and get the results wrong, so they'd do checks, DNA tests take up to six to eight weeks, but looking at bones can take days or weeks depending on the bones, so a week minimum if they really pushed for it."

"I still say we get the teeth, it may slow down the whole operation." Clay decided.

"That's not a good idea, Clay, I'm telling you, they've already catalogued them, so if three sets of teeth go missing, the police will go to the first people they had their suspicions on in the first place, _us_. It won't buy us much time, if any." Pixie argued back, trying to reason with him.

"Hey, you don't call the shots here, kid. This is up to me, and I say we do it, you're not VP anymore." Clay snarled.

Pixie took a deep sigh, knowing that there was nothing more she could say to change Clay's mind. Tig wanted badly to stand up for Pixie, but he knew Clay too well and knew it would make the situation worse, so instead, gently rubbed her back.

☠️☠️☠️

After church, Jax pulled Pixie to the side. "I know you're frustrated, all we can do is hope Clay's plan works, I'll go up to St Thomas with him and Tig later on, see what we can do."

Pixie nodded. "Please try not to get caught. Though keep me updated, and call me if you need to discuss."

"Will do, kid, you got any thoughts about what happened today in church?"  
"Tig's stressed out, Clay's definitely hiding something. There's so much more to this than he's letting on. Tig knows the truth so does Clay, Chibs and Bobby were much more relaxed. They're not a part of this."

Jax nodded as Pixie confirmed his thoughts. "A'ight, I'll keep an eye on Clay and Tig, see if I can figure this out."

"You're a smart guy, you'll be able to do it." Pixie smiled.

"Thanks, now go get yourself ready, you've got a fight to train for." Jax smiled, he hugged Pixie for a second before watching her go off to her trashed dorm room. She seemed tense and was chewing her lip.

Pixie took in the state of her room, her dresser was tipped, there was broken glass on the floor, her mattress was bare with huge rips and her small amount of belongings and the new clothes from Happy had been scattered all across the expanse of her floor. Pixie sat down on the edge of the bed and put her head in her hands as her emotions became too strong. This was the only home Pixie had left, and the ATF agents had destroyed it. This room already had such happy memories for Pixie, hanging out with Juice, talking to Tig, coming home after a hard day's work in the garage. The meetings frustrations at Clay disregarding her warnings and the stress of the fact that the club was yet again in deep trouble built up too and before she knew it, fat tears were rolling down her cheeks and her shoulder shook in silent, aching sobs.

A knock at the door brought Pixie out of her thoughts, making her jump. She wiped her face with her hands and hoped whoever it was didn't need anything serious, and wouldn't notice that her eyes were damp. She opened the door and saw Chibs looking down at her, compassion on his face.

"I thought so, c'mere, my wee lass." He soothed, guiding her back into the room and closing the door, he brought her in for a hug before sitting down on the bed and patting the spot next to him for Pixie to come and talk.

"How did you guess I wasn't doing so good?" Pixie asked curling up next to Chibs, her voice rough as he put an arm around her. She knew there was no point hiding her feelings from Chibs, it was like he was always able to see straight through her, even when no one else noticed.

"Because I know you too well, you look tired and you've lost your usual bounce since church." Chibs explained, tucking a stray lock of hair behind Pixie's ear and gently kissing her forehead. "What's going on in that wonderful noggin of yers?"

Pixie smiled at Chibs' choice of words. "Seeing the clubhouse wrecked has just shaken me up a lot. Since I got back from the cabin, I've felt like everything's bubbling to the surface again, the massacre, my frustrations at Clay and my new home being destroyed. It's all a little much right now."

Chibs listened intently, rubbing Pixie's back and pulling a tissue from his pocket to wipe her face. "Ye haven't allowed yerself time ta process the trauma, have ye?"

"I've tried, but every time I think back to the night it all happened, I feel like I need to run from it or else it'll take me over, like I'm standing on the beach staring up at a huge tsunami wave. I just feel an overwhelming sense of loneliness."

"Aye, but yer not alone." Chibs soothed stroking Pixie's hair. "I think we need ta get outta here fer a wee while." He stood up, pulling Pixie up with him. "Pack yer bag with an overnight kit."

"Where are we going?"

"Away from Charmin' an then ta my house, yer stayin' with me tonight and the next couple 'o' nights whilst we train ye fer the fight."

Surprised, Pixie nodded and grabbed her backpack, going to the bathroom and putting her toothbrush set in and her hairbrush, then her pyjamas and a couple of different pieces of clothing.

"Okay, I'm all set." She nodded, wiping away a few stray tears.

"You okay to ride fer a short while? I need ta pick somethin' up from ma house first."

"Yeah, I've ridden before in worse states than I'm in now."

Chibs tutted. "I don't want you doing that, lovie." He gave her a gentle pat and then picked up the pink plush bunny from the fair that was sat on Pixie's what was left of Pixie's bed. "You gonna take this fella? I know ya sleep with him."

Pixie bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah, he's snuggly." Chibs passed the bunny to her and she put it in her bag, closing it up. The two of them walked out together, Chibs taking her hand and leading her to where the Sons were sitting out in the lot. Seeing Pixie's tense face, Tig was at her side in a second.

"What's up, angel?" He urged, putting his hands on either side of her face as worried clouded his own and he took note of Pixie's damp eyes.

"Just seeing the clubhouse all roughed up is giving me Highton flashbacks, Chibs is gonna move me into his place whilst I prep for the fight."

Tig nodded, picking her up to hug her, letting Pixie take comfort in him as much as he took comfort in her, "I'm gonna miss you, angel." He mumbled into her shoulder.

"Me too. Keep me updated and call me, so I'm not worrying." Pixie told him, lifting up her head to kiss him gently before Tig set her down. Bobby hugged her close and stroked Pixie's hair affectionately.

"Look after yourself, little lady." Bobby smiled at her as he let her go.

Pixie giggle. "You too, Presley."

Jax came forwards after that and gave her a tight embrace and ruffled her hair a little. "Stay safe, kiddo. I'll keep you updated, I promise."

"Thanks, Jax." Pixie smiled up at him.

Half-Sack, seeing Pixie being hugged by the Sons, came jogging over with Cherry in tow. "What's going on, Pix?"

"I'm gonna go stay with Chibs and train, I'm not doing so hot whilst the clubhouse is wrecked." Pixie explained to him.

Pixie didn't expect the reaction she got from Half-Sack as he suddenly picked her up in a tight hug. "I promise I'm gonna make it better, I'll clean it up and make it as good as new." He said nodding his head as he set her down. "I'll make you proud."

Pixie smiled, realising that Half-Sack looked up to her. "H, you already make me proud. You look after Cherry and keep this place ticking over for me, 'kay?"  
"Course, I'll come see you at the fight."

"I'll look forward to it." Pixie nodded. Cherry came up and gave her a tight hug too.

"Sorry you're feeling down, girl, you need anything, you let me know, yeah?"  
"Yeah, thanks, Cherry." Pixie smiled before going to stand with Chibs who was talking something over with Clay. Clay eyed up Pixie.

"There's a fifteen-K purse on the line, and a lot of ringside action."  
"I know." Pixie said. "I'm gonna sort it."

"This is street brawling, not a fun little match between buddies." Clay continued.

"Clay, you don't have to remind me, I've done this before, I know what I'm getting into."

"Good, you better, you can't get all soft and weepy-eyed when you need to fight."

Pixie scoffed, realising what Clay's angle was. After seeing her in the sorry state she was in now, he was doubting her and thinking she was weak. "For fuck's sake, Clay. Lay off me, alright? I'm upset because I'm having trouble dealing with Highton, not because I got punched. I didn't claw my way out of the fiery remains of my old clubhouse just for you to walk all over me." Pixie snapped. "If you're having doubts, take me on in the ring, I dare you!"

Chibs stepped in as Clay stood up. Chibs put his arms around Pixie's shoulders and pulled her back from Clay. "That'll do, lassie, that'll do." He nodded to Clay, before walking Pixie away from everyone towards the bike rack, wiping a few tears of anger that had escaped Pixie's eyes. They started up their respective bikes and Chibs pulled out with Pixie following, she didn't do any stunts, just rode along behind him all the way through Charming. That worried him more than seeing her cry, Pixie _always_ did something with her bike, so seeing her so down that not even riding was making her feel better made Chibs even more determined to help his kid. He led her through to the suburbs where he lived and they pulled up on the drive, removing their helmets.

"Give me a hand with the garage door, lass." He motioned to it and between them, they heaved it up. It went up with a creak and a clatter and suddenly Chibs and Pixie were staring at a dusty vintage moss green Land Rover. He pulled the white sheet off of the bonnet and chucked it to one side before looking down at Pixie, who looked back with a small excited smile on her face.

"I don't think I've ever seen you drive anything but your bike." Pixie commented as she ran her hand along the front grill.

"Haven't driven this beast in a long while, but I think she's due a run."

"How far are we going?" Pixie asked him as Chibs rooted through the pockets of his kutte to find the Land Rover keys.

"Just outside the border, we just need to put some distance between you and Charming." He found the keys finally and pulled them out triumphantly, making Pixie smile. "Hop in, sweethar', I'll move it out, shut the garage door and then we'll go for a drive." Chibs explained as he unlocked the doors and the two of them climbed into the cab. Pixie put on the seat belt and put her bag in the footwell, automatically pulling up her legs to sit with her knees against her chest. Chibs revved the engine a few times getting it warmed up and pulled out of the garage and then jumped out to shut the door. They set off down the road, and chibs turned the radio on, remembering how Tig and Juice had both mentioned Pixie's love for music. He found the classic rock station pretty easily, and Iron Maiden came on with their song 'Aces High'. He watched Pixie gently tap her knees in time to the beat as she stared out of the windshield.

"You like this song?" He asked her.  
"Yeah, Iron Maiden are good, did you know they have their own plane? Bruce Dickinson pilots it."

Chibs chuckled at Pixie's little factoid. "That so?"

Pixie nodded, looking over at him. "Yep, it's called 'Ed Force One'."

"After their mascot?"  
"Yeah! I used to have a t-shirt with Eddie on, back in Highton."  
"I've got one somewhere, I'll dig it out for ye."

"That's really sweet of you, Chibbie, you don't have to do that."

"Bah, I have too many t-shirts, 'specially as I only seem to wear the same four over an' over again."

Pixie giggled. "I used to do that, I had a 'My Chemical Romance' t-shirt, a pink one with a skull on it and a purple one with a rainbow, wore those three constantly, even though I had over a dozen."

"Creature 'o' habit, then?"  
"Oh yeah, I have patterns for everything. Whenever I went AWOL back in Highton, usually because I was upset, or needed to blow off steam, the Sons always found me in the same three spots. I also gravitate to the same foods, music and books. I like change and trying new things, but I always seem to resort back to my old habits."

"Aye, I'm tha same. Issa comfort thing, whenever my head gets too fekin' crowded, I come up ta' the same spot every time, the one I'm showin' ye actually."

Pixie perked up a little at Chibs' words, she knew how important and personal hideout spots were to the Sons, and it showed the level of trust Chibs had for her. "You've got that little notebook too." She recalled. "The one that makes you less grumpy."

Chibs chuckled as he drove. "Aye, tha's the one."

"Is it like a diary?"

"Nah, is more like anything I need ta remember, plus thoughts or sometimes poems, or anythin' I need ta think through."

"You write poems?" Pixie asked, intrigued.

"Aye, they're shite, but sometimes it helps."

Pixie giggled. "Bet they ain't, what are they about?"

"Issa whole mix of things, I like doing ones about nature though, speakin' 'o' which, we're almost there." Chibs gestured to where he was about to turn, it was a winding road canopied by thick trees that climbed up a steep hill, with a sheer drop on one side which led down into the valley where Charming was situated. Pixie could just make out a plateau at the very top where there was a clearing. Pixie watched as Chibs seemed to physically and subconsciously relax as soon as he started to drive up the road, Pixie figured he must really feel safe at his patch.

"How did you find this place?" Pixie asked him as she watched the trees blur together outside her window.

"Accident, I was pissed off at somethin' years ago now, went drivin' to clear ma head an' didn't pay attention to where I was goin', ended up on this road an' found tha patch at the top, just felt like home."

"I think sometimes, the best things happen by accident."

"Oh aye?"  
"Yeah, some of the best inventions and scientific discoveries happened by accident." Pixie thought aloud, then giggled. "And not to brag or anything, but I was a total accident."

Chibs laughed as they reached the top. "Only you could find tha positive in tha situation." He parked up the land rover and turned to his kid. "You ever thought about finding your ma'?"

"Yeah, but it'd be pretty hard to start looking. All I know is she was a hangabout that stayed with the club for about a year, then moved on, but came back with me as soon as I was released from the hospital to give me to Bruce. She was obviously a black woman, and Viktor once slipped up and said she had a thick accent. That's all I know. I've thought about it a lot over the years, a part of me wants to know the real reason she abandoned me, I assumed it was because she wasn't ready to be a mum, but I don't know how accurate that is. She didn't want me, so why should I pine after someone who couldn't love me back?"

Chibs nodded sagely. "You shouldn't waste yer energy on people who don't want ye back, but it's okay to be angry."

Pixie shifted in her seat, knowing Chibs was seeing straight through her. "I don't know how not to be angry at it, she just left me without looking back."

"Have you ever tried to let that anger out?" Chibs asked, rubbing her knee affectionately.

"I-I wouldn't even know where to start." Pixie said after a moment. "I mainly just squish everything down and focus on what I need to do, then go to pieces when I know I'm safe. Half the time, when I get panic attacks, I don't even know what I'm panicking about."

"I think you've repressed everything fer too long, lovie. Thass wha' today's about, letting everything go. C'mon, lass, out we get." Chibs patted her knee and then opened his door, jumping out of the land rover. Pixie followed suit, coming around the bonnet to where Chibs had gone to stand towards the edge.

"Wow, is that Charming?" She asked, looking down at the town below them, laid out in miniature.

"Aye, one of the reasons I like it up here, puts things into perspective." Chibs explained, putting an arm around Pixie's shoulders. She could see the highstreet, the police department, the garage, even the suburbs. "All the drama doesn't seem as oppressing up here, does it?"  
"No, I feel like I can breathe properly." Pixie smiled, seeing everything so separated seemed to have such a calming effect. It felt like all the little worries she'd had about the Sons, the club and the clubhouse didn't seem as big anymore.

"Me too. You know the other reason why I like it up here?"  
Pixie shook her head. "No?"  
"It's isolated, nobody around fer miles and miles. You can shout and scream bloody murder up here and nobody's going ta panic. You ever feel like you need ta scream out your frustrations?"  
"Yeah." Pixie nodded. "I used to go up into the forest near Highton, climb a huge tree and then once I got to the top I'd just yell everything out that was making me angry."

Chibs smiled. "A lass after my own heart. Up here, there's just me, so you can talk about anything, you can scream, you can throw stuff, whatever you need ta do ta help ye process, just don't take it out on me or my land rover."

Pixie giggled. "Promise I won't." She felt so safe and secure with Chibs, there was just so much care in the way he spoke to her and interacted with her. Pixie could feel the emotions bubbling and turned away from him, fists balling as she tried to stay in control. Chibs came up behind her and put his hands over hers, gently tugging her fingers open.

"Let it out, let it go." He said softly, kissing her temple. Pixie turned around and wrapped her arms around his middle, going to pieces as he held her close. Chibs had never seen Pixie cry so hard before, her shoulders shook with violent sobs and the sounds were so wrecked and broken. He wondered how long she'd been holding it all down as he rubbed her back. "Talk to me, lassie."  
"It's not fair! It's not fair!" Pixie's voice suddenly broke between the sobs. "None of it's fair!"

"I know, ma wee bairn, I know." Chibs soothed. "Life hasn't treated ya well, has it?"  
"I just don't understand why." Pixie lifted her head up to look up at Chibs and his heart broke at the amount of pain in Pixie's shining hazel eyes. "Why did she leave me? Why wasn't I worth her love? Why did Jimmy have to come and mess everything up? Why did he hurt me? Why did he kill my sisters and my entire family?! _Why_?!" Pixie's voice started to climb up the octaves until she was practically shouting at the end.

Chibs stroked her hair and wiped her face as she clung onto his kutte like it was a life preserver.

"I don't have the answers, lass, I wish I knew so I could tell ye, and I wish I'd known ye back then so I could've helped. But I'm here now, I'm here to listen so you can tell me everything, lovie."

"It makes me frustrated that I don't know either, I just want answers and to not feel so clueless about huge chunks of my life. Bruce had a lot of the answers, but he never told me."

"Aye, Jimmy's a greedy psychotic fucker. Lives don't mean the same to him as they do to us, when the time is right, he'll get his comeuppance. As fer yer ma', she may have had her reasons for leaving ye, but I wish she could see the wonderful lass she left behind, ye turned out to be such an incredible bonnie, so strong an' brave an' sweet, bet she'd be kickin' herself fer not gettin' ta be a part of yer life. An' although Bruce loved ye, an' although I question some of his parentin', I know fer a fact that he, the other Highton Sons an' Nicole an' Piper are lookin' down on ye and cheerin' ye on." Chibs spoke, his chin resting on Pixie's head. He gently moved his hands to Pixie's shoulders, tugging her away from him a little so he could see her face when he began to speak about what had been on his mind for months, watching Pixie's eyes and face as she stared up at him. "I know that they're so proud of ye, and all you've done since they passed, because I sure am, lassie. Things are changin' so much fer ye at the moment, but what will never change, is the love I have fer ye. Ye hear me, lassie? Yer ma daughter, and I will protect ye and love ye fer as long as I'm able. I know I wasn't there fer the beginnin' but I'm here for hardest part, which is startin' again after everythin' went to shit." Chibs finished, breathing hard, he didn't even know he was crying until Pixie suddenly reached up and swiped her thumb along his cheekbone, wiping away a tear. "Bah, ye've got me all weepy now." He chuckled, breaking the heavy mood.

Pixie gave a little teary giggle. "Least we're crying together. There's nothing worse than feeling alone and isolated when you're crying. I love you too Chibs, I think of you as my dad, which is bizarre as I never even thought of Bruce as being my dad. He was just a guardian to me with a title that I didn't think even meant anything important. But you're showing me what it actually means, to have a dad who loves you unconditionally, and tells you that, who's there when you need him the most and there to watch your successes and slap you upside the head occasionally to keep you safe." Pixie voiced what she was feeling and Chibs felt something click inside of him. He'd always wanted to be a dad, a family man at heart. When Jimmy took Fiona and Kerrianne from him, he thought that that was it, his once shot at being who he wanted was gone. But Pixie was standing in front of him, defying all those beliefs and giving him everything he'd ever wanted. Chibs suddenly jerked forwards and scooped Pixie up, wrapping his strong arms around her tightly in a huge hug. Pixie wrapped her arms and legs around him in return, the small girl inside of her, longing just to have some form of parental affection finally getting what she'd been wishing for.

"I love you, Meggie Telford." Chibs murmured into her shoulder.

"Love you too, dad." The word felt foreign on her tongue, yet so right for this situation. Chibs felt himself cry harder in a mixture of sheer joy and grief. He was beyond happy that Pixie had accepted him so strongly, but his heart ached for his family back in Ireland. As if sensing this, Pixie picked her head up from his shoulder and looked up at him. "We'll take down Jimmy together, and when we do, I'd love to meet Fiona and Kerrianne. We'll get them back." Pixie nodded, assurance and determination on her damp face.

"Aye, that we will. Jimmy won't even see us comin'." Chibs grinned putting his forehead against Pixie's for a moment before setting her down and searching his kutte for more tissues. He cleaned his face and gave one to Pixie to do the same and she watched him take calming breaths.

"Have you let your pain go?" She asked him. "You're helping me and I can see that you're still holding onto a lot yourself." She put her hand in his and stroked across his knuckles and rings.

"I've cried so many feckin' times over it, an' yet, still feels raw." Chibs answered truthfully.

Pixie thought for a moment, remembering how much Chibs seemed to enjoy yelling and being loud sometimes around the clubhouse. "Have you ever just tipped your head back and yelled it out?" Pixie asked him. She put her head back to look up at the California blue sky. "FUCK YOU, JIMMY!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

Chibs burst out laughing. "Ye've got a good set 'o' lungs on ye, lass. But no, I've never done tha'."

"Have a try, it's cathartic." Pixie grinned, feeling lighter for having a good yell. Chibs cleared his throat and then, with much gusto let out a roar. "FUCK YE, JIMMY! YE FUCKER!" Pixie jumped a little but giggled, seeing a sparkle in Chibs' eyes again when he turned to look at her. "Yer right lass, tha' does feel better."

"That's why I used to do it."

"Ye said ye was mad at Clay fer not listenin'. Let that out." Chibs nodded.

Pixie put her head back. "FUCK YOU, CLAY!"

"Better?"

"Aye." Pixie answered, making Chibs grin.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	55. Chibs' House

Chibs and Pixie stayed up on the hill for a long while, just talking about anything they needed to get off their chests. Pixie learnt more about Kerrianne, she was four years younger than Pixie and Chibs promised to show Pixie pictures of her and Fiona when they made it back to his house. Pixie told him about her ADHD and Chibs asked lots of questions about it, getting a good grasp on what the condition was and how it affected Pixie personally. He even went as far as to make notes in his little book on ways he could help her and stuff he needed to remember when dealing with Pixie. They got the last of their anger and frustration out by throwing and kicking small rocks off of the edge, laughing when Chibs kicked one off the edge at the same time Pixie threw hers, and the two rocks ended up smacking together in the air. Once both of them felt better, they climbed back in Chibs' land rover and began the descent back into Charming and to his home. When they arrived, Pixie was practically fizzing on the spot, due to being sat still and not doing much activity for so long. Chibs decided to utilise Pixie's energy for starting her training up, he took her into his back hard and pulled out a box full of training gear such as skipping ropes, gloves, punching bags and hand protectors and then his old punching bag stand. By the time he got everything sorted, Pixie was already jumping around with one of the skipping ropes, doing little tricks and chattering away to him.

"Keep at that for another minute or so, then go start up your punching sets." Chibs nodded, sitting down on the back steps to watch her. Pixie stopped, putting her head to one side.

"Chibbie, you gotta do it with me, you can't coach from the sidelines or else how do I know you know what you're talking about?"

"I boxed all tha' way through ma youth an' in the army, I know wha' I'm talkin' abou'."

"Still want you to do it with me. Training together is a lot nicer than doing it and seeing your coach take a nap."

Chibs chuckled. "Wasn't gonna take a nap, ye daftie." Pixie pouted at him and he knew she wasn't going to let this go. "Ye owe me, lass." He said as he heaved himself to his feet and took off his kutte.

"Whiskey?" Pixie grinned.

"Aye."

"I'll give you it after I've won, how's that? It can be your first celebratory drink after training."  
Chibs' eyes narrowed. "Wha's tha' supposed ta mean?"

"Well, it's like Clay said, no booze, no weed, no Tiggy, and if I can't do any of those things, then you gotta stick with me for moral support." Pixie nodded and Chibs grunted.

"Why's this trainin' lark soundin' worse fer me than fer ye?"

"Because you're an amazing selfless bloke who'll do anything for his kid?" Pixie said hopefully, grinning at him cheekily.

"Ach, get jumpin' ye sweet talkin' wee shite." Chibs chuckled, knowing full well Pixie had won. He grabbed a skipping rope and a stopwatch, setting it for five minutes and then began jumping in time with Pixie, which he quickly regretted as he realised she was like a little kangaroo when she got going, jumping around and chattering away, asking him questions and wanting his opinions on things. Chibs had to slow his pace a little to actually think and jump at the same time, when the timer finally beeped, Pixie stopped with him and looked at him eagerly.

"What next?"

"A drink." Chibs said firmly as he went inside to the kitchen, Pixie followed along behind him as he got two glasses and put water in both. "Yer like Zebedee from tha' magic roundabout when ye bounce." Chibs grumbled, waiting for his heart to stop hammering as he down his glass of water and watched Pixie do the same.

Pixie giggled. "Does that make you Dougal?" She teased him.

"Oi." Chib grunted, giving Pixie a playful shove. "Yer a right wee scunner today." Chibs laughed.

"What does that mean by the way?" Pixie giggled.

"Means you're an endearin' wee nuisance." Chibs chuckled.

"Well at least I'm endearing." Pixie giggled.

"Aye, let's get ye back ta trainin' I wanna work on yer jabs, get them tighter an' cleaner."

Pixie grinned. "Okay, then we'll swap, I wanna see what your punches are like, I can help you too."

"Oi, I've been throwin' punches since before ye was born, lassie."

"And like the great boxer, Oscar De La Hoya said 'there's always room for improvement, no matter how long you've been in the business'." Pixie replied smugly, ducking when Chibs went to cuff her.

Once Chibs managed to get Pixie focused enough to start practising punches and hits, he found himself feeling proud of Pixie's fighting style and the strong punches she was launching into the training mitts he had on. He started ducking and weaving with her, making sure she knew how to hit a moving target and helped her make that transition smoother. The only thing that did slow her down was pivoting using her prosthetic as she tended to favour her left side more, meaning that when she turned using her right side, a hit to her torso easily knocked her or made her stumble. They worked out ways to combat this and Chibs found himself praising Pixie more and more, feeling a sense of pride in watching her defend herself so well. When Pixie's concentration wavered, they took a break and ended up roughhousing as Pixie's mischievous streak came out of the woodwork. Chibs didn't mind as he'd always been a physically affectionate person, so rolling around in the grass on his back lawn making Pixie giggle was something he enjoyed immensely. It reminded him that although Pixie was smart, strong and capable, she was still a kid at heart and needed to let off steam. It also made him realise that sometimes he needed to let things go and just be silly for a while instead of focusing on being serious all the time. The pair of them, finally tired out, lay on the grass on their backs, with Pixie resting her head on his chest, with her body at a right angle to his. Chibs gently stroked her hair as they watched the clouds and caught their breath.

"I think you would've liked Highton." Pixie said suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence.

"Oh, aye?" Chibs asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and gently tracing the shell, memorising the curve.

"Yeah, it was the perfect balance between nature and town. We had the sea, and the forests on the border, but there was also a bustling town life too. There were two bars too. The main one in town and then the one in the clubhouse which was strictly for Sons. The one in town was good, it was called 'The Drunken Tiddler'. Like a small fish, not a child."

Chibs laughed at the name, and Pixie felt herself smile, Chibs' laugh was so jolly and loud, so unique to him. "Did they have ta clarify tha' often?"

"Nah, they got round it by plastering goldfishes on everything to get the point across. Their logo was a goldfish holding a tankard full of beer. They had the best pub food too, Bruce used to love their beer battered scampi, though I just loved their chips."

"Tha' sounds good, lass. If it's ever safe fer ye to go back ta Highton, ye'll have ta show me."

"You'd want to go to Highton if I ever got the chance to visit?" Pixie asked, turning her head so she could see Chibs' face.

"Course, lovie, tha' place is important ta ye." Chibs nodded. "And in return, I'll take ye ta Scotland where I was born, then ta Belfast, where I grew up."

"You're a well travelled bloke." Pixie giggled. "But I'd love to do that. Out of curiosity, when were you born?"

"Twenty-fifth of January, nineteen-sixty-three." Chibs answered.

"Burns Night!" Pixie cheered, making Chibs chuckle.

"Aye, tha's the one. Tig told me you were born in eighty-six."

"Yup, second of November, nineteen-eighty-six."

"I woulda been around nineteen or twenty when you came inta tha world." Chibs thought aloud. "Blimey that takes me back."

"What were you up to in eighty-six?" Pixie asked, curious. She rolled onto her stomach and put her hands under her chin so she could continue resting it on Chibs' chest.

Chibs thought hard, raising his eyebrows slightly in contemplation. "I met Fiona when we were sixteen, we called it off when I joined the army as a medic in eighty-six. she went true IRA, had a friend in England and went to visit him, somewhere on tha' coast is all I know. She came back just over a year later, by tha' point I'd been kicked out of tha army, got court martialed after five months. We got back together almost immediately an' got married a year after tha'."

Pixie sat up a little. "Fiona's IRA?"

"Aye, it was a different time back then, lovie, she wanted a sense of belonging, same way we feel a sense of belonging in the Sons. She had a rough time being a black Irish woman. People weren't as progressive or understanding. I ended up getting pulled into it fer a bit too. Wanted to support her, not the cause."

Pixie digested the information and Chibs worried that maybe his past would cause a rift between him and Pixie. He was surprised, however, when Pixie settled back down on his chest again. "I don't judge people for their past, and I understand Fiona's need to find a community, I don't know where I'd be without the Sons. When the Manchester Sons refused to take me on, I almost lost it. I felt so alone and judged and it felt like I couldn't go on anymore, it took everything I had in me to push for them to deliver me here. I was running on hope alone that you guys would be more understanding."

Chibs put his arms around Pixie protectively. "Bunch of bastards fer making ye feel tha' way. Have half a mind ta' pay them a visit." Chibs grumbled, sounding like a parent in full defence mode over their kid, Pixie giggled.

"It's okay, because if they hadn't rejected me, I wouldn't have met any of you guys."

"And our lives would've been much more peaceful." Chibs joked, chuckling when Pixie dug him in the ribs.

"Oh give over, you like having me around." Pixie giggled.

Chibs nodded and chuckled pulling her closer so he could kiss her temple. "Aye, now yer here, I wouldn't have it any other way."

They lay in quiet comfort for a moment longer before Pixie tried to imagine a young adult version of Chibs. "What did you get court martialed for?" She asked him.

"I attacked a fellow soldier, in ma defence, he was a racist. He saw a picture 'o' Fiona and called her a racial slur, I saw red and went fer the throat, didn't kill the bastard, but I was bloody close."

"I would've done the same thing. I've had some Sons go after me for my skin tone, not here thankfully, but they visited our Highton Charter and didn't think I deserved to be a Son because of some outdated bylaw."  
Chibs swore in a growl. "I've been pushing fer that bylaw to be taken out fer years. We didn't think anyone paid tha close attention to it, we certainly don't."

"I know, those Sons were just assholes anyway, Bruce and I dealt with them, but it would be nice to have the bylaw eradicated."

"Aye, I'll bring it up with Clay, you leave tha with me, love." Chibs assured her. "You hungry?"

"Yeah, I could eat. What do you fancy?"

"I love a good grilled cheese sandwich, that suit ye?"  
"Yeah! I like cheese." Pixie sat up so Chibs could get to his feet and the walked in together. Pixie checked her kutte, which had been hanging on the back of one of the kitchen chairs and took out her phone, finding four missed calls and several texts, all from Juice. The texts ranged from "U ok? H says u :( & w. Chibs" to "TALK 2 MEEEEE!!! >:( "

"Yikes, I think I'd better ring Juice, I didn't answer him back by accident." Pixie told Chibs before walking into the lounge. Chibs watched her go, a gentle smile on his face as he turned back to prepping their meal. Their talks on the lawn and at his hideout had made him feel so much closer to Pixie, he had a better understanding of what made her tick, and he was proud of her for being so understanding and progressive. It worried him, though, as at some point, the awkward conversation would have to be made about the club's dealing with the IRA. He didn't want to trigger Pixie, as he knew it would deeply upset her, so he and the Sons had come to the unspoken conclusion to not tell her, and subsequently made the same mistake as Bruce and the Highton Sons. They'd gone too far down the road to just casually slide it into conversation without Pixie completely losing her mind, and her trust in all of them. Losing Pixie was not an option in Chibs' mind, she was his kid now and he'd be damned if he let her down or gave her cause for leaving Charming. He'd have to handle it carefully, and would need everyone to come clean at the same time, to avoid Pixie seeing a club divided. He sighed to himself, trying to figure out the ethical conundrum he'd accidentally gotten himself into, making a mental note to himself to bring it up as soon as possible with the other Sons.

As he flipped the grilled cheese sandwiches in the pan, he could hear Pixie's voice in the lounge. It sounded like she was simultaneously trying to apologise and argue with Juice at the same time. Chibs guessed she'd just told him about the fight she'd be hustling for the club, and Juice being the good protective older brother that he was, was not happy about it. When Pixie's voice quietened and then went silent for a couple of seconds, Chibs decided to call her in as he'd finished making the sandwiches. Coming out of his deep thought process, Chibs suddenly realised, much to his amusement, that he'd made way more grilled cheese sandwiches than he'd intended to. He served them up on a plate and then put the leftover mound to one side.

"Lass? You gonna come an' eat?" Chibs called as he filled up two glasses up with orange juice. He heard Pixie reluctantly get up and shuffle into the kitchen, Chibs didn't even have to turn around to know she wasn't doing good. "What did he say ta ye?" He growled over his shoulder, feeling protective over Pixie.

Pixie walked up behind Chibs and put her arms around his middle in a hug from behind. "I made him panic by accident, and he doesn't like the idea of me fighting." Pixie mumbled into Chibs' back.

"Was he mad at ye?"

"No, just worried, I feel really bad though, he's been having a rough day mentally anyway."

Chibs unlatched Pixie's arms from his torso so he could turn around. He put his hands on either side of Pixie's face. "Ye stop tha' right now, mo leannan. Ye wasn't in a fit state ta help anyone earlier, ye needed the break and tha time ta de-stress. Text Juicy boy ta comes over, there's plenty 'o' food for him, make it up to him tha' way, but ye don't have ta rake yerself ova tha coals." Chibs said gently watching Pixie's eyes. "Aye?"  
"Yeah, thanks, Chibs, I just really don't like making people feel bad. I'll text him now."

"Tha's 'cause ye have a heart 'o' gold." Chibs said kissing Pixie's forehead. "Now come an' eat an' chat ta me, I like hearing what goes on in tha' wee head 'o' yours."

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie was into her second grilled cheese before the familiar sound of a motorcycle engine could be heard coming up the road and pulling into Chibs' drive.

"Tha'll be Juicy, go get him." Chibs nodded, chuckling as Pixie launched herself out of her chair, excitement at seeing her brother overwhelming her. She opened the door to see Juice already off his bike, waiting for her at the bottom of the driveway.

"Juice!"

"Pixie!" Juice called back getting ready to grab her as she ran at him. He caught her and held her close, breathing in her familiar scent and feeling his worries ease. Pixie always seemed to calm down his mind when she was around him. "You okay, kiddo?"  
"Yeah, I'm sorry I made you worry so bad." Pixie mumbled. Juice began walking up the drive, but stopped when he heard Pixie's words, he hitched Pixie up a little higher so he could see her face.

"Hey, it's alright, _cariño_." He soothed. "I'm your big brother, I worry about you, that's one of my jobs." He chuckled. "Besides, I got something for you."

"You didn't have to get me anything!" Pixie squeaked as Juice carried her inside and carefully kicked the door closed.

"I know I didn't but I wanted to, hi Chibs." He greeted as he sauntered into the kitchen.

"Juicy boy." Chibs nodded in greeting. Pixie untangled herself from Juice so he could take his backpack off and sit down where Chibs had put a plate of grilled cheese sandwiches out for him with a glass of orange juice.

"So what've you been up to today?" Pixie asked him.

"Went to go speak to my city hall snitch, wanted intel on a few things for the club, guy tried to play dumb so I roughed him up a bit and demanded payment, yanno, I gotta reputation to maintain." Juice told them.

Pixie giggled. "What reputation? You're the biggest, sweetest softie I know."

Juice stuck his tongue out at her. "I can be mean when I want to be." He said a little indignantly. "Anyways, the snitch told me to take anything, so I got this." Juice said, pulling out a small Canon digital camera and placing it on the table. "As soon as I saw it, I thought of our eagle-eyed kiddo over here." He said ruffling Pixie's hair.

"Juice! You didn't have to do that." Pixie giggled. "But thank you, bro. I actually really like photography, I used to borrow Bruce's camera all the time." Pixie got up from her seat and hugged Juice.

"I thought so, I gave the SD card to the guy, just in case it had, like, family photos or memories and stuff on there, but I had a spare one anyways, so I put that in for you, so you can click away to your heart's content." Juice explained.

Chibs chuckled. "Only ye, Juicy boy, would beat up a guy, take his camera, an' then give him tha SD card back 'coz ye felt bad."

Pixie giggled. "See! Softie!" She teased.

The trio finished their food whilst updating each other on what the club had been up to, when Pixie's phone started ringing and she darted off to answer it, realising it was Jax.

"You were right. It wasn't just the Mexicans that we buried in ninety-three." Jax's voice came through, he sounded wound up and pissed off, not even bothering to greet Pixie.

"Woah, slow down, Jax, breathe." Pixie soothed. "Start from the beginning, I'm listening."

"We got to the hospital, Clay immediately makes me go run interference, whatever that bullshit means, whilst he and Tig went to the morgue. I didn't like not knowing what either of those two were up to, so I followed. We find the bones, and one's already been I.D-ed. It was Lowell's old man."

"Wait, _what_? Lowell's dad? Was he a Son?"

"No, he was a mechanic at TM during that time, went missing, we assumed he took off and abandoned Lowell, now we know the real reason."  
"Did the club do this? Why was he buried with the Mayans?"  
"Apparently he was a 'casualty of war' according to Clay. He says bodies were dropping faster than he was able to bury 'em. He didn't think it through and just put Lowell in with the Mayans."

"Well that's the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard." Pixie said with a chuckle of surprise. "You don't buy Clay's explanation, do you?"  
"Nah, I'm glad you didn't either, what's you take then, pipsqueak?"

Pixie giggled at the nickname. "Well, for one thing, it's a huge part of Sons ideology, the fact that we take care of our own, and we protect our own no matter what, even in the height of a gang war. It makes no sense that Clay hid Lowell's dad's death from everyone. If Lowell's dad was just a mechanic, that would have made him an innocent, he would have just been caught up in the crossfire. In situations like that, the Sons would usually just apologize to the family and give the poor sod a respectful burial, usually minus a mexican entourage. There shouldn't be any secrecy surrounding the death, unless there's more to it." Pixie thought aloud.

"I was thinkin' the same thing. Why would Lowell senior be buried with the enemy?"  
"Maybe he was? In Clay's eyes at least. I'm not sure what would constitute him being branded as an enemy though, you know? To the point where he's stuck in the ground with two rival gang members that he wouldn't necessarily be associated with under normal circumstances."

Jax thought for a second. "Well, the only thing that would even warrant such a reaction from the club could be if he ratted."

"That's definitely a theory, makes a heck of a lot more sense than Clay's version. I mean the guy's thick as a brick but I'd thought he'd at least be smart enough to come up with a better lie."

"Pixie!" Jax laughed. "Can we at least pretend you have some semblance of respect for our president?"

"When I see Clay actually do something worthy of my respect, then yeah, but until then, I'm gonna quietly disapprove." Pixie said adamantly with a chuckle. "So what's the plan now, boss?"

Jax exhaled. "I dunno, man. I confronted Clay about it and he said he's gonna 'handle Lowell' before the cops get to him."

"I don't like the sound of that." Pixie bit her lip. "Lowell's in a fragile state already, the poor guy's recovering from addiction and trying to get his life back together. If Clay feeds him lies like this, it's gonna throw him for a loop so hard I'm not sure he'll be able to bounce back."

"Plus he's gonna get some heat from the cops, they'll grill him for sure." Jax said.

"Exactly, they'll see straight through Clay's lie." Pixie felt her stomach drop as she thought of Lowell, he'd always been so sweet and kind with her, even though he'd been shy and jumpy at first, he'd warmed to her and they'd worked on cars together. "Shit, Jax, we have to help him." Pixie urged.  
"The only way we can help him for now is findin' the truth." Jax sighed. "How good are you at getting Tig to open up?"

Pixie let out a breath. "All I can do is talk to him, it may not end up pretty though, Tiggy's loyal as hell to Clay."

"I know, please try though, and if he does go apeshit, come get me, I've got your back, darlin'."

Pixie smiled. "Thanks, Jax, I have a morning shift tomorrow with him, so I'll grab him then."

"Okay, well I better head off, that okay?"

"Yeah, if you need anything, give me a bell." Pixie agreed, the line went dead and she clicked her flip phone shut, tossing it onto the couch and then scrubbing her face. " _Fuck_." She mumbled under her breath.

"Wha's goin' on, mo ghràdh?" Chibs' voice grunted from the doorway. Pixie jumped at his voice, spinning around to face him so fast she lost her footing on the hardwood floor, her socks sliding. She landed with a hard 'thunk' on her backside, her hazel eyes huge. Chibs, who'd been leaning against the doorway, mug of tea in hand, let out a laugh. "Sorry, lassie. Ye alright?" He chuckled as Pixie let out a relieved giggle, Juice appeared behind Chibs' shoulders, trying to work out what just happened.

"Geez, Chibs, yeah, you just spooked me." Pixie took a deep breath to try and calm her adrenaline rush.

"Least she didn't throw a spanner at you." Juice grinned, remembering the time he'd scared her in the garage.

Pixie laughed laying down on the floor. "I still feel bad about that, you're so lucky I was too shocked to aim properly."

"So wha' were ye cussin' abou' anyways?" Chibs asked, walking into the lounge and sitting down on the old green sofa, smiling as he watched Juice get down on the floor with Pixie, laying down next to her without hesitation. Chibs tossed them two tartan throw pillows to put their heads on.

"I'm gonna have to tell you two something, but it _has_ to remain within these four walls, promise?"

Chibs raised an eyebrow at the same time Juice turned his head, looking at Pixie with curiosity.

"Aye, promise." Chibs nodded.

"Me too, I promise, kiddo." Juice agreed, linking his pinkie with Pixie's as Chibs leant forwards and did the same to her other hand.

Pixie took a breath and bit her lip. "Clay hasn't been truthful about those bodies that got un-buried this morning. They weren't all Mexicans. Jax and I had our suspicions that Tig and Clay were hiding something since we went to go check out the site, but one of the bodies has just been ID-ed as Lowell's dad."

There was a heavy pause. "Wasn't he just a mechanic?" Juice asked.

"Yeah, Clay said he was a casualty of war, and that during the chaos, Lowell senior just ended up in the same grave, but Jax and I don't believe him." Pixie said quietly. She continued her explanation, going over the theory she and Jax had put together, and her concern for Lowell's safety. The men listened hard, Chibs' tea long forgotten as he swiped his hands through his hair and mulled over Pixie's words.

"It makes a lot of sense that Lowell senior could have ratted, but why wouldn't Clay tell anyone?" Juice asked. "What's with the secrecy?"

"Only Clay knows that, but Jax and I are trying to find out. Having secrets in the club is toxic as hell, it leads to mistrust and total destruction. I should know." Pixie said. "It makes me really uneasy." Chibs internally winced at her words, knowing he needed to come clean about the IRA, and fast.

"Aye, I don't like it either, we just have ta hope tha whatever Clay's reasonin' is fer keepin tha secret, is fer tha good 'o' tha club."

Pixie glanced at him like she wasn't so sure. "I guess, but what about Lowell? His life could take a serious turn for the worst if he finds out that Clay hid the truth, his mind's in a fragile state as is."

"We could get Half-Sack and Cherry to keep an eye on him?" Juice suggested. "Just to make sure that he's got support when he needs it the most."

"Aye, text tha lad." Chibs agreed, Juice nodded and got to it immediately.

"Does anyone have Lowell's number? Once he finds out his dad's been dead all this time, his grief is going to be raw, I know what it's like to lose a parent, so I could talk him through it too." Pixie suggested.

"Good on ye lass, I think I may have it somewhere." Chibs checked his notebook, tossing it to Pixie once he found the page and earmarked it, along with her phone. "Thanks for letting me open up to you guys, I hate questioning a president's judgement, but there's so many red flags. I'd be blind and stupid to ignore them, and I can't bear the thought of losing another brother, especially due to a secret."

"We're not going anywhere, mo ghràdh. I can promise ye tha'. Now lets stop tha' worrying, we canne do anythin' until Clay makes his next move. I say we relax, Juicy boy said he's got yer photos, why don't ye show 'em to us?" Chibs suggested, knowing Pixie wouldn't let the topic go unless she had a diversion.

Pixie perked up immediately, just as Chibs thought. "You guys wanna see? I'd love that! You both are such a huge part of my life now, so sharing that with you two would be amazing." Pixie nodded.

"Look who's the softie now!" Juice teased, cooing at Pixie, sliding her torso under his so he could play fight with her, blowing a raspberry on her cheek.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	56. Family Unit

Pixie sat in between Chibs and Juice on the old green sofa as Juice fired up his laptop. Pixie ran her hands along the corduroy fabric of the couch cushion absent-mindedly as she looked around Chibs' lounge. The walls had been painted a pastel blue, which contrasted against the dark hardwood floor and made the space seem more open and brighter. It was a rectangular room with a window seat at the bottom which looked out onto the garden. There were bookshelves on the walls holding a variety of books and knick knacks as well as a few framed photos. There was a TV set directly opposite the couch which had a few DVDs stacked against it as well. At the other end of the room, there were two lounge chairs in the same sage green corduroy material as the couch and also had red tartan throw pillows adorning them. There was also a fireplace in that corner of the room also made of dark wood and had a gold antique clock in the center of the shelf and a pair of porcelain bluebirds on each end. The room felt really homey to Pixie, and calming too. She settled back against Chib's side, resting her head gently on his arm which he'd put along the top of the couch as he watched Juice fiddle around with his computer. Chibs had his reading glasses on, perched on the end of his nose, as per usual.

"Okay, got 'em, I'm borrowing your neighbour's wifi as you don't have a router, do you?" Juice asked.

"A wha'?" Chibs asked, perplexed.

"Nevermind." Juice chuckled. He clicked on the folder marked "Pix" and a whole array of small thumbnails appeared along with a folder at the bottom marked "IRA". "I'm not sure what that last folder contains, I haven't clicked on it, as I wanted to double check it with you." Juice said pointing to it with the cursor and looking over at Pixie.

"I didn't even know that was on there as this was Bruce's USB. It could be something to do with the deal he had with them, or..." Pixie trailed off, going a little pale. "Oh shit, that could be where he kept the blackmail images. He never deleted them as he wanted proof of what they'd done, no idea why."

"Blackmail images? As in...?" Juice looked at her wide-eyed.

"As in the ones the IRA took of me half-dead on the side of the road with Piper and Nicole, yeah." Pixie mumbled.

"Shite." Chibs breathed. "Best leave tha' folder well alone, ye have enough nightmares as is." He said gently, looking at both Juice and Pixie.

"Agreed." Pixie nodded. "Going off the thumbnails, all the others seem fine. I recognise most of them."

"Okay, Let's do that then." Juice nodded. He pulled up the first image, it was of some event hall decorated in happy birthday banners and balloons. At the forefront was a group of small children, Juice guessed they had to be in kindergarten. All the kids were dressed as princesses and knights and there were a few men in Sons kuttes at the back looking slightly haggard from running around after all the kids.

"I remember this! Nicole's fifth birthday party." Pixie smiled, Chibs saw Pixie's eyes light up as she reminisced. "Her parents invited the whole class, there were twenty of us, all dressed up as princesses and knights. Nicole was Cinderella and Piper was being Snow White, but with ginger hair." Pixie pointed them out. "Can you guys guess which one I am?" Pixie giggled. Chibs and Juice studied the image, their eyes homing in on a small figure dressed all in black with a foam katana and a matching red bandana tied around her head. The resemblance was unmistakable, the hazel eyes, wild black hair and the cheeky grin.

Juice laughed. "Oh my god, were you the ninja?"

Pixie burst out laughing. "Yep! Bruce tried to get me to wear a princess costume, but I saw that one and decided that knights and princesses could go suck it, I was a ninja."

Chibs laughed. "Tha' sounds about right fer ye."

Juice clicked the next image, which depicted a tiny Pixie from the same event, only this time she had a taller boy in a headlock, both were grinning madly at the camera.

"Oh my god! That's Dukey!" Pixie exclaimed, happy tears came to her eyes as she took in the younger form of her friend. "Dukey was a local kid from my class, he was also in the boxing club. We were always partnered with each other because he was the only kid able to keep up with me. Notice he's missing two front teeth in the photo?"

"Was tha' ye, lass?" Chibs chuckled.

"Yeah, he made the mistake of picking on me when we first met, I didn't like what he had to say, so I told him to stop, he didn't, so I made him." Pixie said a little sheepishly. "Instead of crying, Dukey all of a sudden gets really excited because now he was gonna get twice as much from the tooth fairy. Followed me around after that and we just became friends. He was there for me when Piper and Nicole passed, he wasn't as close to them as he was to me, but he recognised that I needed support, so we'd go round town together, he even retaught me how to ride a bike with a prosthetic. We figured it out together." Pixie recalled. "He was never a part of the Sons, so he wasn't affected by the massacre, but I never got to say goodbye to him." Pixie said a little sadly. "Same with Francesca Romanchek, Viktor's wife and Nicole's mum. She was like my crazy aunt, if you think I like knives, you should meet her. She's a very eccentric, high-powered russian woman, she was my main female influence, she taught me how to walk in heels, how to do my hair, how to deal with guys. I love her so much, but again, I had to leave her behind, even though Viktor was killed in the massacre." Pixie exhaled heaving and Chibs put his arm around her and kissed her temple.

"Ye did what ye had to do, lass. If Francesca were here, she'd say tha exact same thing, she would've wanted ye to escape, and I bet she understands." He said softly whilst Juice took Pixie's hands in his, rubbing the backs of them with his thumbs.

"I might be able to track her, or possibly Dukey down if you gave me their details. Would that help?"

Pixie nodded. "Only if it's safe to do so." She took another steadying breath and then nodded. "Can we look at more?"

Juice smiled. "Sure, kiddo, whatever you need." He clicked the next image, which was a group photo of thirty people, almost all of them were men in black Sons kuttes, apart from Pixie who was in her signature bubblegum pink one, and two other women, a tall blonde woman and a shorter black woman.

"Oh my gosh! This is the group photo of when me and two prospects joined the ranks. I was sixteen here. They'd just presented me with the pink kutte, joking that I needed something as unique as I was." Pixie pointed to where she was in the centre of the photo. She was being held by two young men, one holding her legs and the other her torso so she could lie on her side, posing for the camera with a manic grin. Juice homed in on a piece of paper that Pixie had in one hand, like she was waving it to the camera.

"What are you holding?" He queried, zooming in on the image.

"A five-pound note. It was a homage to Clay's phone call with Bruce where he wrote me off and bet five dollars I wouldn't last a day." Pixie giggled. "The lads holding me were the other two prospects, the taller one was Sammy Du Fort, and the slightly shorter one with the green hair is Isaac Smith." Pixie explained. "They were best friends, their dads were also Highton Sons, Smokestack and Lennon. Their sons didn't have nicknames yet, though personally, I called Isaac "Squid".

Chibs laughed at the nickname. "Why's tha'?"

"When he got his green hair wet, it would go into all these different tendrils and curls, and it looked kinda like tentacles." Pixie explained. "We used to try and surf together, Squid was trying to figure out how to help me balance on the board like I used to be able to do, pre-amputation."

"Tha's a nice memory to hold onto." Chibs nodded. "They sounded like good kids."  
"They were, Sammy was nineteen and Squid was seventeen. Sammy and I used to get into all kinds of trouble together, to the point where the Sons didn't like us hanging out together unless one of the adults was with us." Pixie reminisced with a giggle. "Though, when the Sons knew they needed a distraction whilst on a mission, they'd unleash Sammy and I onto whoever the poor sod was."

"Which one's Bruce?" Juice asked.

Pixie leant forwards and pointed to a burly middle-aged man in the center of the group beside the three prospects. Bruce was of average height with a broad forehead and narrow chin. His hair was black and styled in a buzzcut. He had dark blue eyes and Chibs thought he looked like someone you definitely wouldn't want to mess with. "That's him." Pixie said quietly, at a loss for words as she stared at the man who'd raised her. "Wow, and he's still wearing those bloody boots." Pixie chuckled breathlessly, pointing to the dark green military-style boots. "He bought them when he turned twenty, and refused to buy any other pair for decades after. He would've been around forty here."

"He looks kinda intimidating, not gonna lie." Juice chuckled.  
"Oh yeah, you did not want to mess with him, especially if Viktor was with him." Pixie said, pointing to the man on Bruce's right. He was a huge blonde man, way over six feet tall and had bulging muscles. His eyes were green and his blonde hair was buzzed. They pair together could have rivalled Dolph Lundgren and Bruce Willis. "Those two could hold their own in a room of fifteen men, saw it happen once, it was madness. They could also both drink their weight in alcohol too." Pixie said with a fond smile. "I learnt how to drive Viktor's farm truck just so I could load all the drunk Sons into the flatbed and drop them off with their old ladies at the end of the night."

"I would've like to have seen that." Juice smiled. "Pixie's drunk Sons delivery service." he announced, making Pixie and Chibs chuckle. Juice clicked the next thumbnail, which was an old video clip. The quality was pretty grainy, but you could easily tell what was happening. The scene was the interior of the Highton Sons' clubhouse, the walls were painted dark blue and there were various pictures hung on them. A stressed looking burly man stood in front of the camera.

"Is it on, Lennon?" He asked.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Meggie." The burly man said grimly.

"What about the kid?"  
"She's whats up, literally." The burly man beckoned Lennon and the two of them walked out into the gravel parking lot, before turning the camera around and refocusing it. On top of the roof, was a tiny version of Pixie, happily waving at them.

"Bugger! How the fuck did she get up there?" Lennon asked.

"God knows, at least we found her."  
"Meggie? Sweetheart, what are you doing up there?" Lennon called up.

"Hiding! You fownd me!" The child version of Pixie giggled.

"How did you get up there?"  
"I climbed the dwainpipe!" Meggie nodded enthusiastically.  
"Can you climb down?"  
"Why?"

"Because it isn't safe up there, you need to come down."  
"Don't wanna, I can see the sea!"

"Do you think one of us has to go up there and get her?" Lennon asked, with a resigned sigh, like this wasn't the first stunt little Meggie had pulled, and it sure as hell wouldn't be the last.

"Looks like it, you're the one that lost her, you get her."

"For fucks sake." Lennon sighed, walking over to the clubhouse. The video cut there and Pixie, Juice and Chibs burst out laughing.  
"Oh lass, only ye would do somethin' like that." Chibs said affectionately.  
"I remember you telling me and Tig about that incident when we took that road trip to Nevada." Juice recalled. "Though I see some things haven't changed, you're still stubborn and a little daredevil, though at least you can pronounce your 'r's'." Juice joked. He clicked on the next photo, which was a picture of Bruce holding a baby, he was reclined on an old red leather couch with a dark blue wall behind it.

"Is that ye, lass?" Chibs asked.

Pixie nodded, smiling. "Yeah, this was the day Bruce introduced me to the Sons, I was just under a year here. I'd spent most of that in incubators, and as soon as I was discharged, my mum dropped me off with Bruce and ran for the hills."

"Were you a really ill baby?" Juice queried. "You look so tiny and frail."  
"Yeah, I was born right on the dividing line for being incompatible with life, there were all kinds of complications and I was given a very small percentage for survival. Going off what Bruce had said, my mum hadn't even known she was pregnant until right before she went into labour, thankfully she'd only consumed minimal amounts of alcohol, but she had smoked, which we think contributed to me being so premature and small, I also had a hole in the roof of my mouth, which required surgery as I wasn't able to eat orally and was causing infections in my sinus cavity." Pixie explained.

Chibs was silent next to Pixie, staring at the tiny infant on the screen as he digested Pixie's immense struggle to survive in her first year. He wished he'd been there, just to protect her or comfort her. He hugged Pixie closer to him. "Poor lass. Ye were born a fighter."

"Ain't that the truth." Juice nodded.

☠️☠️☠️

The three of them continued looking through the photos and videos until they'd seen every one, laughing at the anecdotes and comments Pixie told them. Chibs felt like he understood more of Pixie's past and he felt closer to her, as did Juice. Just as they were discussing what they wanted to do next, Pixie's phone trilled and she dashed off to answer it, going into the kitchen. She saw Tig's ID and instantly felt a smile on her face.

"Hey handsome." She answered. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just wanting to check in, baby. Make sure you're doing better." Tig explained.

"I'm doing a lot better, Chibs is being a good dad, and Juice came over too." Pixie told him, explaining what she'd been up to for most of the day.

"I'm glad, I wanna see those photos too, doll." Tig smiled. "God I miss you."

"Rough day?"

"Yeah, Jax and Clay are growling at each other constantly, did Jax call you? Saw him on the roof earlier."

"Yeah he did." Pixie sighed. "Where are you right now?"

"Clubhouse why? What's up?"

Pixie knew the talk with Tig couldn't hold off any longer, especially since she now knew that the tension was building between Jax and Clay. Jax would need her support, and if Clay felt pressured, he was likely to try and make his next move to keep everything under his control, which meant that Pixie needed to get to the bottom of what really happened, and fast. "Stay there, I'm gonna go to you."

"Baby, what's going on?" Tig said seriously, sensing Pixie's change of mood.

"I'll explain when I get there, okay? I love you."

"Love you too, angel, you're worrying me a little." Tig said truthfully. "But I trust you, see you in a bit then."

"See ya." Pixie called off. She walked back into the lounge, Chibs and Juice both sensing that Pixie was stressed again.

"What's going on?" Juice asked her, immediately worried.

"I need to go back to the clubhouse, things are getting heated between Clay and Jax, and I need to be there for Lowell too." She explained.

"We're comin' too then." Chibs stood up. "We're here to support ye."

"Absolutely, are you gonna talk to Tig?" Juice asked as he got to his feet.

"Yeah, I need to get to the truth, for Lowell's sake." Pixie nodded. "Thanks guys, you're really coming through for me today."  
"Well duh, we're a family unit." Juice smiled, stroking Pixie's cheek on the way past as he and Chibs went to get their kuttes from the kitchen and pull on their boots. Pixie did the same, and before she knew it, she was on the road with them. Chibs lead the way, with Pixie and Juice riding alongside each other. They rode into the lot, and walked into the clubhouse, surprising Jax, Tig, and Bobby who were loitering inside.

"Well hello, what's this little visit about?" Bobby greeted them.

"Missed you guys too much." Pixie smiled as Chibs and Juice sat down with Bobby. Jax raised an eyebrow and came over.

"Change of plan?"

"Yeah, gut feeling, stall Clay until I'm done, I need to be there for Lowell." She murmured. Jax nodded and darted outside, heading for the garage. Pixie crooked her finger at Tig and slipped into the bathroom, the lock on her old bedroom door had been damaged in the ATF raid, and Pixie figured she needed as much privacy as possible for her difficult conversation with Tig. As soon as Tig reached the doorway, with a puzzled expression on his face, she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside, locking the door.

"We having a little rendezvous?" Tig smiled, putting his hands on either side of Pixie's face and giving her a kiss. She relaxed into it for a second, and then reluctantly pulled away, taking a step back from Tig. "Doll?" Tig asked, taken aback by Pixie's behaviour.

"I need to ask you something, Tiggy, and it's not gonna be nice, but a man's life is at stake here."

Tig's eyebrows knitted together. "What? Who's dying?"

"No one yet, but I need to know the truth, why was Lowell senior killed and buried with the Mexicans?" Pixie asked grimly, biting her lip.

Tig's heart stuttered in his chest as he felt Pixie's eyes boring into him, seeing straight past any facade he tried to put up. "Doll, what are you talking about? It's like Clay said, it was a rough year, bodies were dropping left right and center, he was just a casualty of the war, it was an acci-"

" _Don't._ " Pixie cut him off, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "Don't lie to me Trager, I can see it on your face. I promised myself that I'd always be truthful with you, and I hoped you'd do the same, so please don't hurt me like this, just tell me what really went on, Lowell has to know. Otherwise the lie's gonna mess with his head, it'll make him freak out." Pixie pleaded with Tig, moving away when he went to reach for her.

"Angel, c'mon, where's all this coming from?"

"It was clear from the start that you and Clay were hiding something, but Jax and I figured it out, and it wasn't hard either."  
"Figured what out?" Tig's eyes narrowed.

"Tell me what happend, and then I'll tell you our theory." Pixie argued back.

Tig ran a hand through his hair, pacing back and forth, trying to calm himself. "Are you serious right now? Why are you playing little detective, this isn't a game." He growled, agitated.

"I know it isn't a game, I'm not playing with you." Pixie huffed, she was trying to remain calm, but Tig's agitated tone was making her feel defensive.

"Yeah you are! Because you sure as hell can't be seriously asking me to divulge club secrets that _you_ were never a part of!" Tig suddenly yelled, his sharp tone reverberating off of the bathroom tiles, making Pixie's heart begin to hammer in her chest.

"I'm a part of it now! I became a part of it as soon as I realised that my friend Lowell could suffer the consequences of Clay's decision to kill off his father!" Pixie fired back, as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she saw the flicker of recognition in Tig's eyes. She was close to the truth.

"That." Tig growled, voice low. "Is a very loaded statement."

"Am I wrong?" Pixie challenged.

"Pixie." Tig growled.

"Am. I. Wrong?" Pixie ground out, stepping closer to Tig.

"You're asking me to choose sides here, girl."

Pixie laughed humorously. "No, I'm asking you for the truth, because I know damn well, that if it came down to me or Clay, I wouldn't even be an option." She shook her head and moved past Tig. "Forget it, I'll find another way to dig up the truth." Pixie unlocked the door and pushed the handle down. The second she pushed the door open, strong arms suddenly wrapped around her waist, hoisting her from the floor. Pixie yelped, in surprise and panic, wriggling around in Tig's grip as she tried to get free. Tig closed the bathroom door, locked it, and then sat her down hard on the bathroom worktop next to the sink, holding her wrists as he crowded her, stooping his head lower so he could look Pixie in the eye.

"Don't you _dare_ think so little of how much you mean to me. You are an option, a very huge option, and that scares me, because I've never loved someone enough to make me question my loyalty to the club and to Clay. It's tearing me up inside."

"That's why I didn't want to do this either, but this isn't about you or me, it's about Lowell, he knows the club dynamics too well to believe Clay's lie about Lowell senior just happening to end up in the same grave as the enemy. He'll see straight through it, he grew up in the club, he'll question what really happened and that will shake him up, and his mind's already in a fragile state, he's a recovering addict, and if he gets scared or too distressed, it'll force him straight back to the thing that almost killed him. He needs to know the truth, for his sake, and his son's." Pixie said seriously. "I never wanted you to feel like you had to pick sides, because I can see how much your friendship with Clay, and the club means to you. It's your whole world, and I completely understand, it's my whole world too. But lies turn the club toxic, lies can kill. The only way to save Lowell, is to tell the truth, and help him come to terms with it." Pixie pleaded, a tear escaping her eye. Tig saw it and hung his head. He knew Pixie was right, they'd lied to Lowell before, when his dad disappeared, they'd told Lowell that his dad had just taken off and left him behind. Tig was sure that that lie had probably been a part of why Lowell had spiralled into drugs in the first place, the poor bastard didn't deserve the life he got, the club had fucked him over so many times and he was still as loyal as ever.

"Where were you when all this went to shit in the first place?." Tig murmured, putting his forehead against Pixie's. She could see the pain and guilt in his eyes from what he'd been a part of.

"I wish I'd been there to help, but I'm here to make it right now. You're not a monster, Tiggy. You did what you had to at the time, but now it's time to rectify the wrongs of the past and put this all to bed." Pixie said softly, stroking his cheek.

Tig took a breath and stepped away from Pixie, pacing back and forth again. "It was a mess. Lowell senior was desperate for money, he had debts, big ones and a drug addiction. He also had a young son he was trying to care for, I think it all got too much for him, so when he was approached by two Mayans offering him big bucks to divulge any information, he sang like a fucking canary. He told them when everyone would be away from the clubhouse, they came and attempted to steal a load of stuff, but one of the crow eaters raised the alarm and we caught them in the act. Lowell senior confessed to ratting and we knew we had to send a message to all of our associates, to make sure that they wouldn't rat too. We shot him, execution-style and buried him with the two Mayans we caught trying to steal." Tig confessed gravely, his icy blues shining with emotion. "We couldn't tell Lowell what really happened, he was just a kid still, so we told him his old man took off, and used that excuse when the authorities came looking. Only Clay and I know the truth, the rest of them just went along with the lie, thinking that we ran Lowell senior out of town, rather than killing him."

"Jax and I figured as much. Sons respect their dead, we'd never intentionally put a friend in the grave with an enemy. It just didn't sit right and we realised that Clay had to have ordered his execution. We have to tell Lowell what really happened." Pixie nodded. "The rest of the Sons deserve to know what happened too, we can't keep them in the dark, especially as Jax figured it out so easily."

"I know doll, I'm sorry you got dragged into this mess." Tig said, coming back to her. He hugged Pixie tight to him and then kissed her hard. "I should've told you up front, but I've never been in this situation before, all my exes had nothing to do with the club, so this is uncharted territory for me." Tig said truthfully.

"It's okay, Tiggy, I get it, but next time, please just let me know, I'm always gonna be here for you and will always help you get out of situations, you're part of my family."

Tig smiled gently and kissed Pixie's cheek. "You're my family too. I love you so much, baby."

"I love you too, Tiggy, I never want to yell at you again, I don't know why people romanticise couple fights, 'coz that was terrible." Pixie murmured, pulling Tig to her for comfort and breathing in his scent.

"Same here, though I don't think they romanticise the fight itself." Tig said with his chin resting on top of Pixie's head. He gently moved her back so he could kiss her neck. "They tend to romanticise the make-up sex afterwards." He murmured, his voice low against Pixie's ear and she shivered.

"That so?" she murmured back, her hands running along Tig's shoulders.

"Oh yeah, I wanna make it up to you." Tig crooned.

"Me too, but we have jobs to do, We need to help Lowell, you need to support the club, and I've got a fight to train for." Pixie reminded him. "But after I win the fight, I want to spend the evening with you." She grinned suggestively at Tig.

"I can definitely work with that." Tig smiled, kissing Pixie one last time before he pulled away.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	57. Not Alone

Pixie ran across the lot towards the garage, Jax looked up from where he was leaning against one of the cars with a cigarette and stepped forwards, waiting for Pixie to reach him.

"How'd it go?"  
"You were right, Jax." Pixie nodded, not wanting to say anymore as she caught sight of Lowell further away inside the garage, with H and Cherry both chatting to him.

Jax's face darkened. "About all of it?"

"Yeah. Tig told me everything. The guy chirped to the wrong people, all three got busted and buried. Execution style." Pixie continued, keeping her language short and vague, but Jax understood it all.

"I fucking knew it." He growled. "Thanks, kid."  
"Welcome, where's Play-Doh?"

"Office. He hasn't spoken to him yet." Jax explained.

"Okay, what're you thinking, boss?"

"We need to call a meeting, everyone needs to be on the same page."  
"I agree, Juice and Chibs know some of it, they wanted me to open up, saw I was stressing out again."

"What'd they say?"

"Took Play-Doh's side, said he had to have had a good reason for keeping it on the down-low. I'm not so sure, but keeping my mouth shut."

Jax nodded. "Okay, we wait for Clay to break the news, then call a meet and get to the bottom of it."

"Okay." Pixie nodded. "How you holding up?"

"A'ight. I just wanna get this all cleared up."  
"Me too, I got a fight to train for."

"How's that been going?" Jax asked.

"Pretty good, Chibs' been helping me with my techniques."

"Oh yeah?" Jax said, bending his knees a little and putting his fists up playfully.

Pixie did the same, grinning as she gently tapped her fists against Jax's. "I'll get so good, I'll knock your ass to Canada."

Jax laughed. "Try me, pipsqueak."

Pixie giggled. "Anytime, oaf."

Jax straightened up and put his arms around Pixie, pulling her to him so her back was against his front, and he stooped so that he could rest his chin on her head. "I'm really fucking glad you're here, dealing with all this alone would suck."

Pixie tipped her head back so she could look up at him. "You'll never be alone again, mate. I'll always be here to bug ya."

"Why does your reassurance sound like a threat?" Jax laughed. They heard the office door open and Clay wandered out, He eyed Half-Sack and Cherry before walking over to Lowell.

"Hey, Clay." Lowell greeted. He had his nervous smile on, like he was really hoping to please Clay, but at the same time, feared him. He revved the engine of the motorcycle he was working on.

"Sounds good." Clay said, gesturing to the bike.

"Thanks, is it cool if I work on it before my shift?" Lowell asked hopefully, wiping his hands on an oil rag.

Clay fiddled around with a metal tool cabinet, his back to Lowell, and Pixie thought he looked for all the world like a guilty child, knowing he had to admit to his wrongdoing, and squirming in discomfort at having to do so. "Yeah." Clay nodded. There was a long, awkward pause as Lowell continued to look hopefully at Clay, and Clay looked hard down at the floor.

Sensing the atmosphere, Lowell shifting awkwardly. "I-is everything okay, man?" He asked with a nervous laugh, Pixie caught sight of his shaking hands, which he hid by turning the rag in his hands over and over.

"I want you to hear this from me." Clay said gruffly. He had his sunglasses on, the purple tint shielding his eyes from Lowell's gaze as he tried to gauge the seriousness of Clay's statement. Pixie wondered if the sunglasses were a way to make Clay feel less involved in the situation, to depersonalise it. It masked his eyes and meant that there was less for Lowell to read on his face as he couldn't see his emotions and expressions. It seemed to give Clay a sense of unpredictability and power that fed into his confidence.

"What?" Lowell asked. Pixie couldn't see his face anymore, but she could see how Lowell seemed to shrink a little, like he was scared of Clay or what Clay would say. "Something happened with Moby? I left him with Anita." Lowell worried. Pixie felt her heart break for the guy. He was a good dad, or at least trying to be, he really cared for his son, that much was evident.

"No, no, no, your kid's fine." Clay assured him. Lowell took a breath of relief before tensing back up again, realising that Clay had yet to deliver whatever grim news he had for him. "Those bodies they pulled out of the hole on forty-four..." Clay said trailing off and swallowing hard, Pixie could feel the uncomfortable energy coming off of Clay, he seemed to feel guilt for what he'd done to Lowell, and Pixie realised that her observations earlier that day had been right, Clay had a soft spot for Lowell, he actually cared about the young man, at least to some extent. He seemed to feel sorry for Lowell. "One of 'em's your old man." Clay managed to finish, looking at Lowell straight on.

A frantic kind of energy seemed to take a hold of Lowell, he put his head down for a second, and let out a nervous laugh, his vocal chords were taught however, and Pixie realised he was holding back tears. Jax's grip on her shoulders tightened, and she hugged his arms tightly and securely, comforting him, knowing that this must be bringing back all kinds of horrifying memories for Jax, of being told when his dad had died. "My dad?" Lowell's voice sounded disbelieving and shocked. He scratched the back of his head, a tell-tale sign of stress. "Oh tha-that doesn't make sense." Lowell said. Pixie could tell that his head was already spinning, trying to make sense of the clash of lies he'd been fed.

Clay looked away and slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry, son." He said truthfully.

Lowell let out a couple of gasps. "No, he ran off, like when I was fifteen." Lowell argued, sticking to what he'd been told and the lie he'd lived with for the past fifteen years. "He just split. Everyone told me that. _You_ told me that." Lowell accused him, trying to find sense in the chaos.

"I know." Clay said simply. He'd detached himself from the situation further, not even bothering to look Lowell in the face.

Lowell let out a couple of gasping sobs and Pixie's heart broke at the sound. She wanted so badly to march up to Clay and slap him, make him say something other than 'I know' to the man whose life he'd messed up. Lowell's body was shaking trying to suppress his emotions. "Well, the son of a bitch was dead to me anyways, right?" Lowell said miserably, like he was running a script of what he thought he should say in this situation. Not what he actually felt, which was evident in the way he hugged his arms to himself, trying to self-comfort. Clay didn't even answer him, just turning his head and looked at Lowell, stone-faced and inanimate. "What uh- what happened to him?" Lowell asked with a sniffle, still trying to make sense of it all. Pixie bit her lip, hoping Clay would just admit what he'd done, come clean and let the poor man grieve, knowing the full truth.

Clay shook his head and looked away. "Mayan war. Wrong place, wrong time." He said vaguely, not meeting Lowell's eye. Pixie bit her tongue and Jax swore under his breath. Clay couldn't see them from where he stood, which Pixie was thankful for as she could tell her face was enraged and heart-broken, especially when Jax readjusted his grip, going from seeking comfort to restraining. He was worried Pixie would jump Clay, furious as to the fact he not only lied to Lowell fifteen years ago and made him believe his dad had abandoned him, but now he was lying again, saying that Lowell's dad was just an innocent casualty of war, which wouldn't make sense in the slightest to Lowell. He'd know better. "The -uh- the other bodies they found in the hole, they were the two Mexicans that killed your dad." Clay added. "Vengeance was metered out." Pixie couldn't believe her ears, or the slight upturn to Clay's lips, like he was telling Lowell that he'd personally seen to it that Lowell senior had been avenged. It was like Clay couldn't possibly view himself in the wrong, he always had to come out on top, no matter what. Even if it meant that this would further fuck with Lowell's head as he tried to work out why his dad, whom it was evident that he loved, had not only been dead all this time, but had been buried with his two murderers. Lowell hung his head trying not to cry in front of Clay too much. "The cops, they're gonna try and lay all those bodies at Samcro's feet." Clay warned him.

"That's bullshit." Lowell said quickly, defending the only family he'd ever known for over half his life.

"I know. It ain't a matter of true or false." Clay told him firmly, Pixie had to hold back a laugh at the irony of his statement. "Hale is going to try to screw with your compass. I don't want you losing true north." Clay finished. Pixie could sense a hint of truth to his voice. He really didn't want to lose Lowell, but he was also too narcissistic to let him see Clay as anything less than a strong heroic leader. Lowell ducked his head down, nodding in agreement, a promise that he wouldn't stop defending the Sons of Anarchy. Lowell's body shook with silent sobs and Clay nodded his head, and stood up straight, having said what he needed to to Lowell, and satisfied that Lowell would stay loyal. Clay looked like he was going to walk past Lowell, then thought better of it and put his arm out, pulling in Lowell for a side hug. Lowell clung onto him tightly for a second, trying to seek comfort, before Clay pulled away and left him, walking off.

"I don't fucking believe him." Pixie seethed under her breath.

"Go comfort Lowell, I'm going after Clay." Jax said, he hugged Pixie close for a second before letting go and storming off. Pixie looked back to see Half-Sack and Cherry trying to comfort Lowell now that Clay had gone, and looking very much like they were out of their depth. As soon as Pixie rounded the corner, she could see the relief on their faces as they realised she was there to help. "Hey guys, I'll take it from here, go to the clubhouse, Lowell needs a minute." She nodded to them. Lowell sniffled and spun around to face Pixie, trying to wipe away his tears.

"Oh, h-hey, Pixie." He tried to greet her casually. She reached him and opened her arms out for a hug and Lowell lost it, going to pieces as he hugged her close and buried his face in her hair. Half-Sack and Cherry gave her little waves before they left the bay. "My dad..." Lowell whimpered.

"I know, mate, I know." Pixie soothed, rubbing his back.

"You do?" he asked hopefully, glad he didn't have to explain it to her.

"Yeah, I do. C'mon let's go to the office and talk, yeah? You need to sit down." Pixie suggested, taking Lowell's hand and guiding him inside, where she pulled him down on the grey couch in Gemma's vacant office.

"I don't get it." He sobbed as Pixie grabbed a box of tissues. "Clay must've wanted to protect me, but why did he lie to me? I feel so alone."

"Hey, hey, look at me." Pixie urged, taking Lowell's shaking hands in hers. "You are _not_ alone, you've got me, yeah? I've had your back since we met. Remember? I've checked in with you every day we've worked together, I've made you coffees, you've even made me coffees, we've worked on cars, we've had jokes, I've seen you laugh when I do stupid shit with Juice and H too." Pixie reminded him.

Lowell gave a small smile through the tears and heart-break on his face. "Yeah, you've been good to me, Pixie. Thank you."  
"You don't have to thank me, bud, we're family, it's what we do, and I'm here for you now too, if you need to cry, or yell or throw shit, I'm right here with you." Pixie soothed, squeezing his hands comfortingly, she was reminded forcibly of her breakdown with Chibs and realised that she was potentially Lowell's only source of comfort, and knew the importance of providing him with a safe space to work through his trauma.

"I just feel so lost, I don't get it." Lowell let out a gasping sob and then clutched his chest. "I feel like I'm dying. Oh god." Lowell looked at Pixie, pure panic on his face. She realised he was having a panic attack.

"Hey, bud, it's okay, trust me, you're not dying, your body just has too much going on, okay?"  
"What's wrong with me?"  
"A panic attack, buddy. It's okay, you can't die from a panic attack. I'm gonna help you through it, you'll feel better in no time, yeah?" Lowell nodded, his face pale as he shook and gasped. Pixie put her left leg up on the couch and then slouched down, so she had her back to the arm rest. She put her arms around Lowell and turned him so his back was against her front and hugged him to her tightly. "Lean against me, bud, it's alright, I've got you. Pop your legs up so you're relaxed." Pixie told him. Lowell did as he was told, looking up at her with wide eyes. "Can you feel me breathing?" She asked him, taking a deep breath in and out. Lowell nodded again. "Okay bud, I'm gonna talk you through it, follow my breathing pattern, okay, breathe in and out with me." Pixie said calmly and softly, soothing him as the poor man tried to make sense of his world, which had come crashing down around him. Pixie stroked his hair and wiped his eyes as Lowell went to pieces against her, just letting out all the pain and sadness he'd felt over his dad being missing for the past fifteen years, and then the grief of finding out that he'd been dead all this time. Pixie murmured comforting words and sweet nothings, to help soothe his mind, linking her hand with Lowell's when he reached for it. After a while, Lowell's breathing evened out and he finally felt like he was semi in control and not dying.

"I'm sorry." He murmured, so quietly Pixie barely caught it.

"What's up, buster?" Pixie asked.

"You've been through so much, and I'm wasting your time, crying on you like a sorry sack of shit." Lowell murmured.

Pixie smacked the hand she was holding. "You stop that, right now." She said sternly. "Lowell Harland, you are _not_ wasting my time, nor are you a sack of shit. You are a good man, who's just had a hard life. You should never compare your traumas to anyone else's because yours are just as valid and just as painful. I want to be here with you and for you, so this is the complete opposite of a waste of my time." Pixie explained. "You understand?"  
"Yeah." Lowell nodded. "Sorry."  
"Hey, you stop that." Pixie joked, poking him in the ribs. "Otherwise you're gonna trigger the Brit in me and I'm gonna start apologising, and then we'll be in an infinite loop of 'sorry's'." She giggled, making Lowell chuckle too.

"Thanks for making me feel better, Pixie." Lowell said. "I just have so many questions buzzing around in my head."  
Pixie breathed in. "I know, Lowell, I might be able to help you with them." Pixie admitted. "Before I tell you anything else, I-I need to know. Do you want the truth? Would that help you? Or would you prefer to leave everything be?"

Lowell sat up and looked at her. "What are you talkin' about? Of course I want the truth, nothing makes sense, I need things to make sense, Pixie." Lowell said desperately.

Pixie fiddled with the hem of her shorts nervously. "Jax and I... we've been trying to figure out what really happened with your dad, how he ended up where he did, with the two Mexicans."  
"Clay said he was killed by them, and the club killed the Mexicans." Lowell said, sounding so unsure of his own statement.

"Clay also told you that your dad bailed on you." Pixie reminded him. "I'm really sorry, Lowell. Clay's been feeding you lies this whole time. Partly because he cares about you, and partly for his own gain." Pixie said quietly.

"How do you know?" Lowell asked.

"Because I found out the truth today, what really happened. Not Clay's nonsensical version of events."

Lowell looked at her, his eyes huge and watery. "Please, please tell me. I have to know. It makes no sense! It makes no sense!" His hands shook as he sobbed, Pixie could see the torment on his face.

"Okay, okay." Pixie soothed, she wiped down his face and brushed his hair back, She put her hands in his to steel them both, giving him a comforting squeeze, waiting for when his breathing became calmer. "Back in ninety-three, there was a war between the Mayans and the Sons over territory and other gang related things."  
"I remember, people were being killed and maimed all over the place. Charming was a warzone." Lowell nodded. "I was fifteen, it was real scary shit."

Pixie's heart went out to him, he'd been almost the same age as her when Lowell had suffered his trauma. She felt her bond with him strengthen. "That's right. From what my source told me, your dad had some serious debts, that right?"

"Yeah, he was an addict and was trying real hard to stop, money was real tight back then." Lowell confirmed, finding it oddly comforting that Pixie knew about his past.

"Well, your dad was trying to take care of you and becoming desperate, really worried about his money situation and how it would affect you, from what I could gather. The Mayans caught wind of his struggle and they offered him a way out. Told him that if he could give them any intel, they'd give him a lot of cash, maybe enough to pay off his debts for good."

Lowell paled. "M-my dad? My dad was a friend to the club, why would he do that? _Why_?!" Lowell gasped, his eyes searching Pixie's. "My dad was a rat? Oh fuck. Oh god." He whimpered.

"Hey, listen, buddy. Yeah, he did rat, but because he was desperate, the Mayan manipulated him. He was trying to do what was best for his family, for you." Pixie soothed, Lowell nodded as things started to make sense in his head.

"He always said he wanted to take care of me, that he loved me. That's why it made no sense when he abandoned me." Lowell said quietly and miserably.

"I guessed as much." Pixie nodded, rubbing his arm.

"How did he die?" Lowell looked up. "I need to know what happened."  
Pixie bit her lip. "Are you sure? I don't wanna hurt you, buddy."

Lowell nodded firmly. "Things are finally making fucking sense after all this time, I have to know!" He pleaded with her. "Those lies fucked with me. _Ruined me_." Lowell said bitterly. Pixie felt her own eyes sting as she held back tears, looking at Lowell's face as he thought back over everything, how he'd tried to suppress all the questions and mistrust, how he'd felt so alone in the world, completely abandoned by a man he thought had loved him. He'd turned to drugs to deal with the pain, but it had only made the pain worse. Now it felt like things were finally clinging into place. He finally _understood_.

"Your dad told the two Mayans who approached him when the clubhouse would be vacant so they could steal from the Sons, only their plan was foiled when a woman spotted the Mayans and raised the alarm. Clay and Tig confronted him and he admitted everything. He was executed, and buried with the Mayans he had conspired with."

"Why didn't they tell me?!" Lowell gasped.

"My best guess is that they didn't want to tell you the truth because you were so young. You wouldn't have understood _why_ he was killed."

Lowell went silent, hanging onto Pixie's hands like they were a lifeline as he stared down at the floor, trying to process everything. "Why didn't Clay tell me until now. He was going to let me live on believing my dad had abandoned me, that he didn't love me. _But he did_!" Lowell cried.

"I think he was too deep in the lie to backtrack, most of the club doesn't even know what happened to your dad. If he randomly brought it up prior to this incident, it would've caused chaos. The fact that the burial site was uncovered forced his hand, I don't know why he didn't tell you the truth now though. I wish I did know." Pixie said truthfully. "I'm sorry I can't answer that."

Lowell nodded slowly, then brought his head up to face Pixie. "I wish I knew too, but you don't have to say 'sorry'. I feel like you're the only person here who cared enough to help me, instead of fucking with me." He said bitterly.

"Jax cares, he was pissed when he found out. He knows what it's like to lose a parent, same as me, so he completely gets how you feel, he was lied to too. We all were. The club has your back Lowell, I do too. I always will." Pixie said firmly.

"Apart from my Moby, this club... it's the only family I got."  
"Same here, the other Sons don't know about what really happened with your dad, but Jax and I are trying to change that, after this, we're gonna hold a meeting and get everyone on the same page, try and clean up Clay's mess." Pixie assured him.

Lowell nodded. "Yeah, Clay's been my only father figure since my dad died, I kinda made him into a hero in my head, glorified him. Now I'm just seeing an old liar. Everything I believed him to be, I don't know if that's true any more. I don't know how to be a good man."

Pixie rubbed his arm. "Hey, you _are_ a good man. Everything you thought Clay was, you are. You're kind, you're loyal, you're strong and you're brave. You're a good father too. You are everything Clay wishes he could be." Pixie said firmly.

Lowell smiled and then reached for Pixie, hugging her close. "I'm really glad you're here."

"I'm really glad I got to know you. You're an amazing guy." Pixie said truthfully. "If you ever need anything, don't even hesitate to call me, okay? I'm a gal of many talents, I can babysit, cook, cheer you up, bug you if you're lonely, whatever you need, bud." Pixie joked, grinning at Lowell so he'd smile.

"Thanks, I really need that." Lowell grinned properly for the first time in a while. "Ca-can I ask you a favour?"

"Sure." Pixie nodded.

"Can you come with me to the police station, they're gonna want to talk to me about finding my dad's body. I think they might pressure me into saying if the club had anything to do with it."

"Knowing the ATF, they probably will. Are you feeling well enough to handle that?"

"Yeah." Lowell nodded. "I'll do the club a solid and stick to what Clay told me. Last thing this club needs is the president going down now."

Pixie was taken aback by Lowell's response. "That...that's very strong of you, Lowell, it shows your character, after everything he's put you through, you're still willing to do that for him." Pixie commended, patting Lowell's hand.

"It's for the club, and for you. Not for Clay." Lowell nodded. "Today's shown me where my loyalties lie, and who my real friends are." Lowell said firmly. His phone trilled in his pocket and he answered it. After a moment, he agreed to something and hung up. "That was Deputy Hale, he wants me to go down to the station."  
Pixie stood up. "Let's hit the road then, buster, you got a vehicle, or do you need to hitch a ride?"

"Nah, brought my bike with me today. That's what I was working on earlier." Lowell grinned as Pixie did a double take.

"That beauty's _yours_?" Pixie exclaimed. "Oh we are gonna have some serious fun, my guy. How fast does it go?"  
"About a hundred, I've been looking to mod it, though, like yours."  
"Well let me know, and I'll lend a hand." Pixie grinned as the pair of them walked out. She put her arm around Lowell's back just to give him some extra moral support. When they reached the garage bay, they were met by Jax, and a surly looking Tig.

"Hey, man. I just gotta say, I'm sorry for what happened." Tig said to Lowell, offering his hand."  
"It's a'ight. You were just following orders." Lowell shrugged, though his eyes were pained. He awkwardly patted Tig's shoulder. "Pixie's helped me work through it. I feel more in control for the first time in my life, now I know what really happened." Lowell said honestly. Jax watched him carefully, the dude looked like the weight of the world had just been lifted off of his shoulders, and like he was finally seeing everything clearly.

"Pixie tends to have that effect on people." Jax said fondly. "Wish I knew what really happened back then so I could've helped you through it." Jax said honestly. "I'm here if you need to talk, man."

"Thanks, Jax. That means a lot." Lowell nodded. "Deputy Hale called. Wants me down at the station."

"You know what you're gonna say?" Jax asked.

"Yeah, ATF don't need to know fifteen year old club business, I'll go with what Clay said, may as well use that lie for some good." Lowell explained. "Mind if Pixie comes too, I need support right now."  
Jax smiled. "That's why we're here, Tig and I talked it through, and we want to be here for you too. We're all gonna escort you down, that way if they get too rough with ya' Tig and I'll jump right in."  
A flood of relief seemed to wash over Lowell's face. "Y-you guys would really do that?"  
"Absolutely, brother." Tig saif firmly. "Least we can do."

Pixie smiled proudly up at Tig, seeing him be the better man, and working to rectify his wrongs.

"Well alright, let's go." Lowell nodded. He grabbed his motorcycle helmet from his locker and Tig helped him wheel his 1995 Harley Low Rider out. They caught a glimpse of Bobby and Clay at the door to the clubhouse as the four of them rode off. Jax took the front, then Lowell and Pixie rode alongside each other with Tig taking up the rear.

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie stood outside the door where Hale and Agent Stahl had taken Lowell in to break the news, though from the raised voices, it sounded more like an interrogation. She tapped her foot in irritation as Pixie tried to work out what she could do to get them to lay off of Lowell. She caught sight of Unser as he rounded the corner, heading for his office and scooted forwards.

"Chief Unser?" She called out.

Unser startled at hearing a young woman's voice call out his name, he turned around, holding his coffee and a croissant, spotting Pixie as she waved him down. He recognised her from the fair immediately and came over.

"You're the Sons kid." He acknowledged. "Please tell me they're not in trouble."

"Pixie." She introduced herself. "And they aren't, but I'm about three seconds away from busting down that door. Hale and Stahl are unjustly questioning Lowell about his own dad's death. The poor sod only found out this afternoon." Pixie said pointedly. Unser saw the frown on her face and the glint in Pixie's eyes and saw that she wasn't kidding.

"Leave it to me, kid." He nodded, storming down the corridor, he opened the door and said some clipped words before Lowell came barrelling out, looking shaken and definitely worse for wear. As soon as Unser came back out again, Pixie strode up to him.

"I can't believe the conduct of your own deputy, can't they see the poor guy's going through some shit?" She snipped at him.

"I know, I'm sorry, miss. I'll talk to him, reign him in a bit."  
"You better." Pixie warned, glaring at him before taking Lowell's hand and tugging him out the door. Unser stood there for a second, completely taken aback by her.

Outside, Pixie hugged Lowell tightly. "Are you okay? I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner. They're assholes."

"It's okay, they were just desperate." Lowell said, though his voice was wavering a little.

"What happened?" Jax said striding up to them from where he'd been sat with Tig on their bikes.

"Lowell just had an unlawful interrogation from some bitch named Agent Stahl and Hale."

"They can't do that." Jax growled.

"I know, I collared Unser, but I have half a mind to go knock some teeth." Pixie growled protectively. Tig, who'd been walking up, caught this statement and pulled Pixie against his chest, just in case Pixie did try and go back inside.

"Let's get out of here, baby, taking down officers in a police building isn't the smartest thing to do."

"I know. It just makes me so mad." Pixie sighed.

Lowell's head jerked up like he's suddenly had an idea. "You feel like hitting shit?" He asked.

Pixie nodded. "What're you thinking, buster?"  
"I'm good friends with the guy who owns the junk yard on the outskirts of Charming, he lets me go smash shit whenever I get too psyched up, or if I feel like using again, it's really fucking cathartic."

Jax grinned. "Fuck yeah, let's go do that. I have to call a meeting, but I really don't feel like dealing with Clay's bullshit right now."

Pixie tilted her head to look at Tig. "Wanna go smash some shit?"  
"I'm down, that sounds fucking awesome." Tig nodded. "Chibs and Juice wanted me to let them know when you were on your way back."  
"Get them to come up, Bobby too. Bet they could all do with getting some agro out." Pixie nodded.

Tig pulled out his phone and sent a mass text as they mounted their bikes. Lowell waited for Jax to set off first, but this time, Jax gestured to Lowell.

"You lead, buster, this is your run." Jax nodded, using the nickname Pixie seemed to have chosen for him.

Lowell grinned like an excited child and revved his bike before setting off with the three Sons following behind. As they drove through town Chibs and Juice came out a side road together, joining the back in synchrony, a second later, Bobby appeared and slotted in in the spare spot next to Tig. Pixie felt a huge grin on her face as she realised that almost her entire family were on the road together. When they hit a long stretch of road, Jax waved at her, and she pulled up her visor.

"Go fucking nuts!" He yelled, pointing to the road ahead. Pixie pulled the visor down and pulled out of formation, pulling her bike up into a wheelie as she roared past Lowell, much to his excitement. She put the wheel down and stood up on the bike with her arms outstretched, before she spotted a dip and sat down in time to control the bike and make a jump as she came out the other side. She did a couple more stunts and then slowed to let the others catch up at a stop sign.

"That was so cool!" Lowell exclaimed as he pulled up next to her.

"Thanks! Gosh, I've missed doing that!" Pixie said breathlessly as she pulled up her visor so Lowell could hear her better. Adrenaline coursed through her body, and she grinned, putting her head back and let out a whooping howl. Lowell and Pixie laughed as the rest of the Sons, hearing the howl, let out roars of their own, like a true wolf pack.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	58. Caidil m' Ulaidh

The junkyard smashing session seemed to have been exactly what the Sons had needed, the junkyard owner, a portly guy named Oliver, had just gestured to a box full of aluminium baseball bats and told the group to go apeshit on whatever they wanted, long as it wasn't any of his dump trucks. Pixie had felt exhilarated as she put her bat through the driver's window of a rusty red Honda and laughed as Chibs unleashed his inner wildness and jumped on the bonnet of an old blue pickup truck, jumping up and down on the metal before kicking the windscreen so hard it had shattered. Pixie and Lowell had taken down an old printer and watched as Juice took out his coding frustrations on an old computer launching it off of the minibus he found it on and then smashing it to smithereens when he'd dropped down with it. Even Bobby, the calmest of the Sons by far, had found his release in beating on an old station wagon. Pixie worked out her anger and focused on using the time to better her upper body strength, using the time for training, and even having an impromptu sparring session with Juice when the others egged him on to take up Pixie's offer of a little fight. Bobby and Tig had drawn out a rough square in the dirt floor for the boxing ring and made it the aim to knock each other out. They'd been evenly matched, much to everyone's surprise, as Juice was just as fast as Pixie, and had a rough idea of her fighting style. When it became clear that they were going to draw, and Pixie's concentration wavered, they ended up goofing off with Juice scooping Pixie up off the floor and threatening to throw her out the square after she'd tickled him repeatedly. When everyone was tired out, Pixie jumped on Jax's back to pull him out of his thoughts and had asked him whether it would be an idea to tell the other Sons about what really happened to Lowell's dad, that way it would be less explosive whenever they decided to break the news to Clay that they knew. Jax considered it and called an impromptu meeting, bringing in everyone on board an abandoned bus. They'd all sat down and Jax and Pixie explained together, with the help of Tig, what really happened. Once the others had digested the information, they agreed that the truth did need to be addressed, and agreed to find a way to break it to Clay without him going apeshit at Jax and Pixie and potentially accusing them of conspiring against him. The group also gave their support to Lowell, showing him that they had his back and that he could rely on them. When it started to go dark, Lowell said his goodbyes, wanting to get back to Moby, and the group disbanded. Chibs, Juice and Pixie deciding to go back to Chibs' house, as Pixie needed to get as much rest as possible for the fight tomorrow.

Pixie giggled as Chibs, in high spirits pulled her onto his back and gave her a piggyback up the drive, with Juice tagging along, all three of them raving about their session at the junkyard.

"We _have_ to do that again, and soon, that was such a rush, and I feel so relaxed now." Juice grinned.

"Me too, though I want another round with you in the ring, you're good, J." Pixie nodded.

" _After_ ye've done yer hustlin' tomorro' night." Chibs said firmly. "Last thin' we need is our star fighter gettin' injured, 'specially by 'er brute of a brother."  
"Oh so when Pixie tries to give me a black eye it's funny but as soon as I retaliate I'm the bad big brother?" Juice jokingly grumbled as Pixie stuck her tongue out at him.

"Aye." Chibs grinned as he unlocked his door. "The wee lass gets away with 'coz she's cute." Chibs joked as the three of them wandered inside. He set Pixie down so they could take their boots off.

"Well that's fair." Juice chuckled sarcastically. "Maybe I should go on strike."  
"No!" Pixie squeaked with a giggle, jumping on him, Juice automatically supported her legs, making sure she wouldn't fall. "I'd miss you too much, how 'bout I pay you in cookies?" She suggested, making the guys laugh.

"Well now that's an offer ye canne refuse." Chibs chuckled.

Juice grinned at Pixie's cheeky face. "A'ight, I'll take you up on that offer, but they better be good ones."

"They'll be the best!" Pixie nodded, leaning forwards so she could put her forehead against Juice's. She pulled a goofy expression to make him laugh, then wriggled out of his grip. "Are you guys hungry?"  
"Always." Juice nodded.

"I'll start cookin' then." Chibs nodded. "You two can go entertain yerselves, otherwise it'll be madness tryna cook with ye both." Chibs said, ushering Juice and Pixie into the lounge, laughing when Pixie took his glasses from his kutte pocket and put them on, dancing around Juice. "Oi, I need those, ye wee scunner." He chided light-heartedly. He managed to grab her and removed his glasses, kissing her temple. "Be good." He wanted her before chuckling to himself as he took off his kutte and went to the kitchen. Pixie and Juice took theirs off, but before Pixie could set hers down, her phone trilled in her pocket. Juice raised an eyebrow as Pixie retrieved it.

"It's Jax, hold on." She told him, answering the call. "Jackie boy!"  
Jax laughed at her imitation of Chibs. "Hey Pipsqueak, need to talk to ya', ya got a minute?"  
"Sure, what's up?"

"Fucking Kohn. I went back to my place, and he'd broken in, trashed Abel's room and stuck a load of pictures he'd stolen from my dorm room, stuck them to the wall with scratched out 'X's' over the faces."

"Oh shit, Jax, that's some psychotic shit right there." Pixie said, her voice full of concern. "Where are you now?"

"Outside of Charming PD. I tracked the fucker down at Lloyd's, we had a fight, he stabbed me in the thigh with a pair of scissors." Jax grunted.

"Jax! You should've brought back up! Do I have to come up there and remind you about our little agreement in Nevada? About you doin' stupid shit?" Pixie scolded.

Jax sighed. "No, think I learnt my lesson, the PD infirmary stitched me up good, they're gonna escort him out of Charming, dude's under arrest at least."  
"That's not gonna work, Jax. He won't stay away." Pixie warned.

"What're you talking about?"  
"The guy's a trained fed, a police escort ain't gonna hold him. At this point, he's like a rabid dog, Jax. He's just gonna keep coming back to his targets, you and Tara. Neither of you are safe, especially not after you attacked him, that's gonna give him all the evidence he needs, in his head to think that you're the dangerous one, and he has to protect Tara. She needs to go on lockdown. _Now._ Both of you do."

"I can take him." Jax said emphatically.

"Bull-fucking-shit. Jax! Listen to me! Now is not the time to play heroes. Get to Tara, stay with her. I'm calling for backup. You understand?"  
"Pixie I-." Jax tried to argue.

"Not in the mood Jax, do as I say or I'm coming down there myself." Pixie growled, her voice final.

"A'ight, I'll go see her." Jax grunted, the line went dead.

"For fuck's sake." Pixie grumbled as she speed-dialled Tig. He picked up on the first ring.

"Hey baby, you good?"

"Yeah, Jax isn't though, I need you to play babysitter tonight, Jax just got stabbed by Kohn, he's fine, but trying to play hero. I've sent him to Tara's. Can you stay with them, just in case Kohn tries anything? We're gonna have to put them both on lockdown until we can eliminate the problem." Pixie explained quickly. She heard a jangle of keys and a door slam.

"Already on it baby, I got them." Tig assured her. "Love you."  
"Love you too, Tiggy, you're the best." Pixie smiled in relief. The line went dead just as he fired up his motorcycle and Pixie put the phone down.

"You're kinda scary when you go into VP mode." Juice chuckled. He sat down on the couch and pulled Pixie into his lap. She explained everything to him, and Juice listened with a worried expression on his face.

"Geez, that guy sounds like a real nutcase, I'm glad Tig's with Jax and Tara tonight, we should probably do the same tomorrow night too, during the fight." Juice suggested.

"Yeah, we might need backup from a certain Tacoma Killer." Pixie thought aloud.

"Hap would do anything for you, have you told him about the fight?"

"Not yet, I was meaning to do that today, but with everything happening to Lowell, I put it on the back burners."  
"I'm really glad you stepped in to help Lowell today, he really needs friends like you." Juice smiled, patting Pixie's knee. "Whilst you've got your phone to hand, you may as well make the call to Happy."

Pixie nodded. "That okay? After that we can make a pillow fort."

"Oh hell yeah, I love pillow forts." Juice agreed as Pixie speed dialled Happy's number, it took him a while to answer, but right before it cut to voicemail, he picked up.

"You better not be in trouble, Little Maniac." Happy's deep voice rasped.

"I'm not, I just wanted to catch up with you, let you know what's been going on up here, and what I'm up to tomorrow." Pixie explained, she could hear the TV in the background, and high pitched voices of cartoon characters.

"I'm listening." Happy said simply. Pixie went into detail on everything that happened that week, starting with the bodies found on forty-four and finishing with the Kohn situation, Lowell and her fight tomorrow. "I'll come down, I'm in Washington, but I'll get there in time to support tomorrow."

"Thanks Hap, I'll look forward to seeing you. I miss having you around." Pixie said truthfully. "I really wanted you to come see me fight, but I think it might be best if you keep an eye on Jax and Tara, just in case Kohn decides to make an appearance."

"I wanna see you fight too." Happy grunted. "Leave it to me." he said finally. The line went dead and Pixie stared at her phone for a second.

"Well that's cryptic." She said to Juice. "Hap says he's coming down though."

☠️☠️☠️

Chibs walked into the lounge carrying a tray of food and stopped at the doorway. His green couch and armchairs had been robbed of their seat cushions and in the center of the room was a green igloo shape with blankets, cushions and two very happy siblings sat inside. "What the feck 'ave ye been up ta'?" Chibs grinned.

"Pix suggested we make a pillow fort."  
"Heard shouting earlier, ye better not 'ave been fightin'."

"Nah, Pixie just had to go VP on Jax, he did something stupid again." Juice explained as Chibs set the tray of food on the floor next to the fort, realising that there was no way he was going to get Juice or Pixie out of their little construction anytime soon. Pixie squealed in delight when she saw the tray.

"You got potato smiles! They're my favourite!"

Chibs chuckled at her delighted expression. "Aye, Juicy boy clued me in. We also picked up yer favourite breakfast stuff, is it true that breakfast is yer favourite meal of tha' day?" Chibs asked.

"Yeah! You can have so many options, and all breakfast food is tasty!" Pixie said eagerly. "When Bruce had to go on runs, I'd live off of pop tarts and fruit loops. I can cook, but they were too good to resist."

Juice shook his head. "Geez, kiddo."

The three of them tucked into the food, chattering about what Jax had been up to, and whatever each of them had on their minds. After they'd eaten, Chibs tidied whilst Juice rough-housed with Pixie, realising that her hyperactivity had returned with a vengeance. As they rolled around, they ended up realising that Chibs' floor was smooth enough that they could slide each other across it. So when Chib returned with two beers and a glass of orange juice for Pixie, the first thing he saw was Pixie giggling so hard she was hiccuping as she slid past him, coming to a stop against the armchair as she scrambled to her feet and then pushed Juice so he slid across the floor too.

"What are ye buggers up to now?" Chibs chuckled as he sat on the cushion-less armchair and set the drinks down on the coffee table.

"Entertaining Pixie." Juice laughed as he got to his feet. He felt so relaxed and genuinely happy as he messed around with Pixie, the way she laughed was contagious and he loved how when he did things like this with her, he completely forgot about any of his worries. Juice grabbed one of the beer bottles and drank eagerly, feeling like he'd done a workout as he sat on the arm of the chair. Pixie did an electric slide across the floor and came to a stop in front of Chibs, her eyes were sparkling with happiness. Chibs passed her her drink and she downed the glass and handed it back.

"I like being at home with you guys." She smiled.

"I like it too." Chibs said truthfully, he pulled Pixie into his lap, just feeling the need to hold her, it was like she was a ray of sunshine, just lighting up the whole room, and his life. "Ye certainly made yerself at home in ma lounge." He chuckled, surveying the chaos of the pillow fort, and the cushions and blankets scattered throughout the room. He said in mock annoyance, though he was grinning.

"We redecorated." Pixie giggled, squealing as Chibs tickled her.

"Speaking of." Juice piped up. "You think we should show Pixie her surprise?"

Pixie looked at Juice in confusion, turning to Chibs for an explanation. "What?"

Chibs chuckled. "Well aren't ye curious." He teased. "Aye, best get the excitement outta tha way now." Chibs nodded. "Or else we'll never get ye ta settle." He hugged Pixie tightly before motioning for her to get up, she did, looking at them both with a questioning look.

"What've you guys been up to?" Pixie asked as Juice and Chibs got to their feet. They each grabbed one of Pixie's hands and took her out into the hallway and to the door at the end of the hall next to the staircase.

"This room's fer ye, lass." Chibs smiled, gesturing for Pixie to open the door. Pixie looked at him in confusion, before turning the knob and pushing the door open. She froze as she took in the room. The walls had been painted in a pastel purple, one of Pixie's favourite shades, and had been adorned with My Chemical Romance Posters. The carpet was sky blue and there was a single bed with a pink Hello Kitty bedspread. There was a desk painted white, to match the nightstand which had framed photos and a butterfly lamp. There was also a white wardrobe in one corner of the room and a rocking chair with a soft pink blanket on it. Pixie slowly turned around, eyes huge.

"You... you guys did this for me?"

"Course." Juice shrugged. "We knew at some point that you'd need a place to stay outside the clubhouse, so a couple months back, Chibs and I got talking and we decided to put this spare room to use. We put this whole thing together and kept notes of things you'd mentioned that you liked." Juice explained.

"It was quite fun painting the walls an' such. Though I left tha' Ikea furniture ta' Juicy boy, he's better at tha'." Chibs smiled, clapping Juice on the back. Pixie jumped up at them both hugging them tightly to her. As Chibs rubbed her back, he felt her shudder.

"Wha's with tha' tears, mo ghràdh?" He asked as Juice gently pulled Pixie back so they could see her face. Pixie wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, giving a little teary giggle.

"Sorry, it's just, no one's ever done anything like this for me. It's amazing!" Pixie looked up at them, eyes shining. "You guys got it perfect, though you really didn't have to do all this for me. I'd have been happy sleeping on the couch."

"You deserve it." Juice said firmly. "You're family to us, and you deserve to feel like you have a safe space to go to, no matter what's happening. You have a heart of gold, kiddo. I mean take today, you went way out of your way to help Lowell, and you brought everyone together, you're the heart of the club."

"Aye. I'm so proud of wha' ye did fer Lowell. Poor sod's had a rough life an' ye stepped in fer him when he needed it most." Chibs said, kissing Pixie's temple.

"I just did exactly what you guys did for me, you set the example." Pixie replied, she turned away from them to investigate the room further, smiling at the photos. There was a group photo of the Sons, all goofing off at the camera, as well as one of Tig and another of Chibs and Juice. "When did you guys take these photos?" Pixie asked.

"Did them specially fer the room about a month back, it was bloody difficult trying to get all the guys to stand still long enough for the photo, Sons aren't always keen on havin' their picture taken." Chibs explained.

"Unless it's for a mugshot." Juice joked.

☠️☠️☠️

Chibs woke up feeling rather warm. It was late evening now, and he realised that the three of them must have fallen asleep on the couch at some point during the film they'd watched before bed. They'd tidied up the lounge and Juice and Pixie decided to flick through the channels finding one of the cartoon Scooby-Doo movies. They'd settled on the couch, with Chibs at one end, his back to the armrest, legs stretched across the length of the sofa. He had Pixie nestled on his left, stretched out with him and Juice had sat by Chibs' knees, putting his legs over Chibs' so he was comfortable. Chibs had found the film pretty entertaining, and it was nice seeing Pixie and Juice laugh and cheer through the first half of the film, They were obviously avid Scooby fans from the way they were quickly invested in the story line and the characters. He wasn't sure when he'd fallen asleep, but apparently Juice and Pixie had also succumbed to sleep, as they were snuggled on top of him, Pixie had her head on his chest, her fingers on her left hand gently grasping his shirt for comfort. Juice seemed to have slid over sideways, as he'd been sat upright when Chibs had last seen him, but now had his head resting on Chibs' shoulder, his forehead almost touching Pixie's. Chibs smiled to himself, glad they were both comfortable. As tough as Juice tried to make himself, Chibs knew he was still just a kid at heart, like Pixie. He needed support and a family, just as much as she did. When Juice had first prospected with the Sons, Chibs had been quick to take the lad under his wing, he'd seen how nervous Juice was and how he just wanted to feel like he belonged somewhere. Chibs had completely understood, having felt the same way for most of his adult life. They'd formed a friendship pretty quickly, and Pixie seemed to have brought them closer still, to the point where Chibs looked forward to Juice coming over or hanging out with him after hours. Chibs decided that he'd better put Pixie in her bed, and leave Juice on the couch so the lad could spread out more. Chibs gently untangled his legs from Juice's and held Pixie closer to him as he slowly sat up. His back was aching from being in a contorted position on the couch, but Chibs was more concerned with trying not to jostle either member of his little family. Once he managed to get free of Juice, he balanced Pixie against his chest with one arm whilst he grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and tucked Juice up under it. He gave the lad a gentle pat on the shoulder before quietly carrying Pixie out of the living room, down the hall to her room. Pulling back the duvet, he laid her down, gently uncurling her fingers from his shirt. He tucked her in and kissed her temple.

"Sweet dreams, a bhobain." He murmured. Switching on the fairy lights he'd hung on the ceiling above her bed, just in case she needed them. He left the room, brushing his teeth before feeling the need to check on Pixie, worry setting in about her having nightmares and waking up in an unfamiliar room. When he went downstairs again, he could hear little murmurs, and sure enough, Pixie was wriggling a little, her brow furrowed, she made a scared little squeaking sound in her sleep and Chibs felt his heart lurch. He stroked her cheek and tried to work out what to do, scanning the Rolodex in his mind for anything that he thought could help. He was taken back to just after Kerrianne was born, how he'd spend the nights worrying just like he was now, how he used to quietly sing her a lullaby, doing that had settled both his nerves and Kerrianne, so he pulled the rocking chair to Pixie's bedside, gently taking her hand and smiling at how she gently held his fingers. He remembered the lyrics to "Caidil m' Ulaidh" (Sleep my Darling) and quietly started to sing. It seemed to instantly calm Pixie, her brow smoothed and the little squeaks slowly subsided. He kept going, relief flooding his mind, feeling glad he could help.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

**Here's the lyrics to the lullaby:**

**Refrain:**

Caidil m' ulaidh, caidil m' uan,

(Sleep my darling, sleep my lamb)

Sùilean m' eudail dùin an suain;

(Eyes, my treasure, close in slumber)

Luasgadh mulaid a' mhuir-làin

(Mournful rolling of the high tide)

An sìor-dhûrdanaich air tràigh.

(The constant murmur on shore)

**Verse 1:**

Thig a chulaidh, thig a luaidh,

(Come, little boat, come, my dear)

Thig i sitheadh uchd a' chuain;

(The wall of the ocean wave comes rushing)

Bheir i thugam e gu slàn

(She will bring him to me healthy)

Sgiobair mara nan seòl ard.

(The sea skipper of the high sails)

**Verse 2:**

Bheir e dhachaidh leis gu fior

(He will certainly bring home)

Usgraichean à iomadh tìr,

(Jewels of many lands)

Caidil m' ulaidh, dùin do shùil,

(Sleep, my darling, close your eyes)

Tha e tighinn, thig a rùin.

(He is coming, come my dear)

**Verse 3:**

Caidil thusa, cadal sèimh

(You sleep, sleep peacefully)

Sùil a' faire shuas air nèimh;

(A watchful eye up in Heaven)

Dùin do shùilean beaga caomh

(Close your tender little eyes)

Caidil suaimhneach ri mo thaobh.

(Sleep contented by my side)


	59. Kids Again

The next day, after breakfast, (strawberry pop tarts for Pixie, fruity pebbles for Juice and toast for Chibs), the trio made their way to the clubhouse to see how everyone was getting on, Pixie was anxious to check in with Jax and Lowell, wanting to make sure both of them had gotten through the night without incident. When they pulled into the lot, Tig was sitting outside with a cigarette, next to a grumpy looking Jax. Pixie took her helmet off and turned off her bike, grinning as Tig jogged over, picking her up immediately for a hug and a kiss.

"Missed you, baby doll, you okay?" He greeted.

"Yeah, I slept really well, and had a good night with Juice and Chibbie." Pixie said, hugging Tig close. "Was everything okay last night?"

"Yeah, Tara wasn't happy to have Jax or especially me over, but no sign on Kohn. Dropped her off at the hospital, made her wear a pager to beep me if she spots Kohn, and then took Jax here." Tig explained.

"Thanks, you're the best." Pixie kissed him. "If H isn't doing anything, we could always send him to lurk in the car park."

"I think if Tara sees another Sons kutte in her vicinity that isn't Jax's, she's gonna start using the pistol she carries in her handbag." Tig smirked.

"Well she's the one that's trying to use Jax to get rid of her problem." Pixie said, sounding a little protective. "Speaking of which, I called Happy by the way, he wants to come see me fight."

"He's in the clubhouse, H and Cherry spent most of yesterday cleaning it all up. Bobby tracked down new mattresses and the rooms are almost back to normal." Tig said, setting Pixie down so he could greet Chibs and Juice, the four of them walking towards the clubhouse, instead of going in with the others, Pixie sat down on the bench next to Jax.

"You're making Eeyore look like the happiest donkey on earth, what's up?" Pixie asked, grabbing Jax's hand.

"Just a lot on my mind." Jax grunted.

"You mad I ordered you around last night?"

"Nah, nothin' a couple rounds in the ring with you won't fix." Jax gave her a half-smile. He shook his head. "I've been tryin' to figure out why Tara stayed in Charming after she finished clearing out her dad's place. She hated this place, broke up with me and left for Chicago as soon as she could, never wanted to be a part of the club either, now all of a sudden, it's like she never left, never broke it off." Jax explained, he turned his head and looked at Pixie. She had her nose wrinkled in the specific way she did when she was holding something back because she thought she might get into trouble. "What?" He asked her.

"I've been thinking about it too, it didn't make sense to me... until I realised what was really going on."

Jax sat back against the bench. "And what's that?"

"She's using you, Jax." Pixie said gently.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jax said indignantly.

"Listen, when Tara was in Chicago, did she ever call you, or text you, or even visit you?" Pixie asked.

"No. nothin'." Jax grunted.

"And then all of a sudden, after she gets out of an abusive relationship, of which the cops can't help her with, 'coz they guy's a deranged fed. She pops out of the woodwork, as if nothing ever happened, being the girl you fell for when you guys were teens." Pixie explained. "I didn't want to believe it, because I always want to see the best in everyone, but I'd be stupid to ignore the signs, and I'd hate for you to get hurt over this." Pixie continued, rubbing Jax's hand.  
"You're thinkin' that Tara's usin' me and the club to get rid of Kohn?"

"She's desperate, and she's afraid for her life, so I'm not blaming her or trying to paint her as the villain. I really feel for her, and she seems lovely. But she knows the Sons, knows that we'll cross lines and eliminate problems that the cops can't. I don't think she's really here to win you back, or else she'd be trying to be with you more, she's only been contacting you whenever Kohn reappears. It's the same as how Oswald approached us when Tristen was attacked."

Jax sighed. "You think there's any chance of me and her?"

Pixie thought about it. "If you did end up having to kill Kohn, and you and Tara got together you'd bond over the trauma of Kohn, rather than having an actual relationship. Tara would feel like she owed you because you solved her issue and killed Kohn for her, but wouldn't properly be in love with you, or the club. She'd be in love with the idea of you, who she wishes you could be to her, rather than who you actually are. It could cause major tension, and it would make you feel like you had to change in order to keep her around, there'd be serious fights, and you'd feel torn and tense. It could turn toxic, it's called 'trauma bonding' and it often leads to abusive relationships." Pixie mused. "I've seen couples come together in similar circumstances and I've never seen it end well, you should be with someone who loves you for you, not for what you both experienced. Besides, Tara has so much going for her, she's a good doctor, and that job is stressful enough as it is, add club business on top of that and it could mess with her mental health. It could mess with both your heads."

Jax stayed silent through all of Pixie's talk, listening intently. "I get it. We're completely different people to the kids we were back in high school, I think it was just nice to pretend I was still that carefree kid." Jax sighed. "I'll talk to her tonight, call anything we have together off." He took a long drag of his cigarette.

"If you're just wanting to be a kid again, then how 'bout we go do some stupid kid shit?" Pixie suggested. "I mean, I'm not doing garage work 'coz of the fight tonight, and you're off duty 'coz of your stab wound, so we've got the whole day to just de-stress."

Jax considered it. "What would we do?"  
"Dunno. Whatever we felt like, we could go get candy from the store, just ride around on our bikes, or the van depending on how painful your leg is. We could go back to the junkyard, or watch a movie or go graffiti some anarchy symbols on the underside of bridges." Pixie giggled.

Jax grinned. "I like the sound of that. Opie and I used to do stuff like that all the time. Riding around on bikes or skateboards. Have you ever skated?"

"No, but I've heard that they make good weapons." Pixie giggled.

Jax burst out laughing at the reference to his mum. "You're bad enough with pillows." He said, giving her a playful shove. "How 'bout I teach you how to skateboard today? I found my old board whilst I was looking around storage, I can go fetch it, we can do that for a bit, then go into Charming?"

Pixie nodded eagerly. "Yeah! It'll give me time to check in with Lowell, and Hap." Pixie agreed. Jax stood up with Pixie, and winced as he took a couple of steps. He heard a giggle behind him and looked over his shoulder.

"What?"

"You're walking like you're drunk." Pixie giggled. "It's kinda nice to see someone else limping that isn't me."

"Glad I could help." Jax said sarcastically. "Where's your usual sympathy?"

"No sympathy for the stupid." Pixie chuckled.

Jax grunted. "Well what would you have done if you came home to find your house had been broken into and your son's room trashed?"  
"Called for backup? Not beat up a Fed in broad daylight?" Pixie grinned. "You know, like a VP would've done? What you did was prospect level stupid."

"Quit raggin' on me, pipsqueak." Jax grunted trying to make a grab for Pixie, she dodged him easily and giggled.

"Well someone has to call you out on your bullshit, it's the only way I can keep you safe, but I promise, soon as I do something stupid, you can rag on me right back."

"Oh I will." Jax grinned. "So you're raggin' on me because you care?"

"Course!" Pixie grinned, finally stepping closer to Jax so she could hug him, tipping her head back so she could see his face. "Told ya I'd always be around to bug ya'."

Jax hugged her tight for a second then let go. "Go bug someone else for a bit, I'll be back soon with the skateboard."

"Okay, if you're not back soon though, I'm gonna send H out to tail ya, specially with Kohn lurking out there somewhere." She said as Jax made his way to his bike.

"I'll be fine, I can take him." He called as he put on his helmet.  
"Idiot." Pixie yelled over the engine noise.

Jax gave her the middle finger, grinning as he drove out of the lot, passing Lowell as he rode in on his bike. As soon as he was up, Pixie pounced on him.

"Hey, buster!" She yipped, hugging Lowell tightly.

Lowell gave a surprised laugh, returning the hug. "H-hey Pix, I don;t think anyone's ever been this excited to see me."

"Well get used to it, I'm always happy to see you." Pixie grinned. "You doing okay? How was last night?"  
"It was good, Moby and I decided to make pizza together, and we watched a movie. My head wasn't buzzing for once, and I felt complete somehow."

"That's good, the saying's right then, 'the truth will set you free'."

"Yeah, I think so. I wanna work overtime today, make up for the hours lost, and I wanna start saving to take Moby on holiday someplace."  
"Maybe a waterpark?" Pixie suggested.

Lowell's eyes lit up. "Yeah! He loves swimming."

"Take him swimming as much as you can then. As a kid of a single parent myself, all we want is to spend time with our parent, you don't have to spend money to have a good time either, go to the beach with him, maybe?"

Lowell nodded. "I could do that this weekend, thanks, Pixie."

"Welcome. If you need anything, give me a bell, alright?"

"Yeah." Lowell nodded. He looked good today, there was actually colour in his face, and the bags under his eyes had lessened, like he'd actually slept well. He gave her a high-five and then wandered into the garage, Pixie turned on her heels, satisfied that Lowell was doing better, and made a mental note to check in with him at lunch and make sure he ate something. She caught sight of Tig leaning against the doorway to the clubhouse, watching her with a gentle smile.

"Spying on me, Mr Trager?"

"Maybe." He grinned as Pixie skipped over to him, taking her hand and leading her inside. "I like seeing you do your people thing, how happy you make them." Tig cooed, stooping so he could kiss Pixie's cheek.

"I like making people happy." Pixie smiled. "Especially you."  
"Nah, you like causing havoc for me." Tig grinned, flopping down on the couch in the surprisingly vacant clubhouse. Pixie snuggled herself on Tig's lap, looking around.  
"Where did Juice and Chibs go?" Pixie asked.

"Errand." Tig said simply. "Clay's helping Gemma reconstruct Abel's room."

"Was it that bad?" Pixie asked him, stroking Tig's cheek.

"Yeah, real psycho shit." Tig nodded. "They're changing the locks and the back door itself. It had a glass panel next to the handle, so when the asshole couldn't pick the lock, he just punched through the panel.

Pixie snorted. "What did he try to pick the lock with? Picking locks is easy as hell."

Tig narrowed his eyes and smirked. "And how would you know that, angel? Hm?" His hands stroked Pixie's hips.

Pixie grinned. "Nancy Drew handbook. Though I perfected the technique by sneaking around doing outlaw stuff."

Tig chuckled and bounced Pixie on his knees. "I hope you haven't been using it on our Charming brothers."  
"No, I've only used my skills once over here, and that was just to bust the lock on Opie's shed because he didn't have his key." Pixie explained.

"Good girl." Tig nodded, pulling Pixie closer to him. "I've missed this."

"Me too, Pixie kissed his neck. "We still on for tonight? After my fight?"

"Absolutely, I made my house mostly liveable, though some of the walls have patch tests of paint on them where I've been trying to figure out what colour to paint them."  
"If you wanted to, I could help? I like DIY, and choosing paint and stuff is fun."  
"I think you find everything fun." Tig joked. "Though I was hoping you'd like to do that with me at some point, as I want you to come move in when you're ready."

"I want to, too." Pixie nodded, sitting up and kissing Tig, loving the way his rough hands stroked her thigh as she did so.

"I'm loving this little outfit you're wearing." Tig murmured as he broke away from the kiss. Pixie looked down at her black dungaree shorts which had a spine and rib cage patterned on them in white. She was wearing a pink top with cartoons on, a velvet choker with a little plastic bat, a couple of Kuromi bracelets, Tig's cuff, and hello kitty converse.

Pixie smiled. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, it's edgy and cute, and I get to see you're smokin' hot legs."

Pixie giggled. "Oh is that why you were staring at me earlier?"

"You caught me." Tig pretended to admit. "I was thinking about getting my hands on 'em, and watching you squirm as I kissed and bit your thighs." He growled, smirking when he saw Pixie's cheeks turn pink.

"Tiggy!" Pixie squeaked, butterflies erupting in her stomach.

Tig chuckled at her reaction, twisting around so he could lay Pixie down on the couch and act on his thoughts.

☠️☠️☠️

Jax returned with his skateboard and showed Pixie the basics, getting used to being back on the board after not skating for what had to be at least ten years. They quickly found that, much to Jax's amusement, Pixie struggled to stay upright when the board flexed, due to her prosthetic foot as she couldn't feel the board move until she was falling sideways against Jax. He ended up getting on the board with her, and putting one arm around her middle, so he could show her how he balanced, and so Pixie could actually stay upright long enough to learn how to move the board and so on. Tig watched them with an amused expression as he smoked and drank with Bobby. They both found it nice to see Jax just letting loose and having fun with Pixie, their friendship just seemed so natural, and they were constantly making fun of each other like siblings would. Eventually Pixie managed to get the hang of it, and skated around in a loop as Jax gave her encouragement as he limped over to the bench to rest his leg. Pixie came over to them on the board, grinning happily and Tig stopped the board with his boot so he could pull Pixie into his lap.

"You know what I'm in the mood for?" Bobby said as he took a drag of his cigarette.

"Dancing?" Pixie supplied, Bobby got the joke and laughed.

"No, Chinese food." Bobby finished.

"Last time you guys went to a Chinese place you got shot at." Pixie recalled.

"Only 'coz we had Chuck with us." Jax argued. "Now that you mentioned it, Chinese food sounds real good."

"There's that place on main street, opposite Lloyd's and the florists." Tig suggested. "They give us discounts 'coz we keep their cars running."

"Oh yeah, they have the best dumplings." Bobby nodded. "You like Chinese food, Pixie?"

"Sweet and sour's good, I like prawn toast too." Pixie answered.

"Nice." Bobby nodded. "Why don't we put an order in? I know what Chibs and Juice like."  
"Yeah, we can pool the cash." Jax nodded.

"Can we see if Lowell's hungry? I wanna make sure he's eating right." Pixie asked.

Bobby nodded. "That's real sweet of you, girly, go ask him." Pixie got to her feet and jogged off, the others watched her go.

"Are we sure she's killed people? I mean that girl's adorable." Bobby asked the group with a laugh.

"I dunno how she does it, she can beat somebody up and you still want to pick her up and hug her." Tig grinned. "My girl's crazy."

"Well we all knew if Tig would ever get an old lady, she'd have to be as crazy as he is." Bobby joked.

"It's weird calling Pixie an old lady." Jax grunted.

"Why? You don't think she'd be a good old lady?" Tig said a little defensively.

"Nah, she'd be one hell of an old lady, that's for sure. She'd be real good." Jax assured him. "All I'm sayin' is, she's the youngest out of all of us." Jax joke. "Little missus seems better."

"Tig's little missus." Bobby said out loud. "Yeah that fits. You thought about putting a ring on it?"

Tig raised his eyebrows. He honestly hadn't, but at the same time it seemed crazy not to at some point. "Yeah, when I got her all moved in and things ease up a little, then yeah, I think I wanna."

Jax and Bobby simultaneously raised their eyebrows and stared at him. "What happened to 'no woman can tie me down'?" Jax asked.

"Or 'relationships suck, marriage is an early death'." Bobby quoted.

"Well I didn't find the right gal." Tig insisted. "Pixie's the one."

"Speaking of marriage, you told her about your first one? And your daughters?" Jax asked.

Tig nodded. "Yeah, came clean about a month back. Told her everything."

Bobby almost did a spit take. "And she's cool with it?"

"Yeah! She said it didn't bother her, even said she wants to meet them at some point." Tig said, still sounding a little amazed at how well Pixie had taken the news.

Bobby and Jax looked at each other and then at Tig. "Marry her." They both said.

☠️☠️☠️

When the Chinese food arrived, accompanied by Chibs, Juice and Clay they realised that none of them had seen any sign of Happy since he'd gone to ground in the dorm rooms, they'd picked up his favourite order of Chinese food, but none of them wanted to go and get him.

"The bastard needs ta eat somethin'." Chibs said to the group.

"Who's gonna wake him up though?" Juice asked. "Last time I had to wake him up he slammed my head into a wall." Juice grumbled.  
"He almost shot me." Tig recalled.

"I was almost stabbed." Bobby put it, he eyed Pixie who was messing with Jax's hair. "Maybe we need to send Pixie in, she might stand a chance?"  
"She's got the cute factor." Juice agreed. "Pix, c'mere." He called her. Pixie looked up, and immediately skipped over to see what Juice wanted.

"What's up?"  
"Need you to go wake Hap, get him to come eat."

"Okay, I can do that." Pixie grinned, moving to the doorway.

"Okay if she's not out in three minutes, we'll send in a rescue party." Bobby chuckled.

Inside, pixie made her way to the dorms and found the one Happy was sleeping in. He had his shirt off and was just in jeans, lying on his back with one arm thrown over his eyes, the white duvet tangled around his legs. Pixie walked to his bedside.

"Hap? Happy?" She called out, there was no response so Pixie leant over him and grabbed his shoulders. "Ha-" was all she could manage as she suddenly found herself momentarily airborne before she was thrown down onto the mattress on her back as Happy reared up and pounced on her, assuming he was under attack, grabbing Pixie's wrists in one hand whilst the other made a fist, he froze when he caught sight of Pixie's cheeky face. She seemed completely unphased by what just happened as she let out a giggle. "Hi Hap." she greeted.

Happy let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. "You." He pointed at her. "Are fucking lucky." He collapsed down next to Pixie on the bed. Turning his head to look at Pixie as she rolled over.

"That was fun." Pixie grinned. "Sorry if I startled you, the others wanted me to get you 'coz we got Chinese takeout and you haven't eaten yet."

"I'm glad one of us enjoyed that." Happy grinned, he hadn't realised just how much he missed seeing Pixie until now. He put his arm around her and pulled her to his chest. "Hi little maniac." He said, Pixie could tell he was still sleepy.

"Did you ride all night? How far away is Tacoma?"  
"Yep. Twelve hours." Happy grunted.

"Geez Hap! That's like the entire length of Britain." Pixie looked at him eyes wide.

Happy snorted. "I've driven for longer. It's good to be back here, though."

"I like having you here too. C'mon, let's go eat." Pixie reminded him as she wriggled out of his grip and rolled off the bed. Happy groaned as he got to his feet, stretching out his arms and back. Pixie looked at his torso in amazement which was covered in detailed tattoos of all different kinds, each one was unique to Happy, apart from his reaper which was nestled in amongst some snakes. Happy pulled on a black Samcro t-shirt and sat down to tie his boots as Pixie pulled the bed straight absent-mindedly, he smiled watching her do it.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	60. The Fight

**WARNING: Mention of blood and mild gore.**

The Sons arrived at the underground boxing arena with Pixie riding shotgun in the van with Half-Sack and Cherry. They pulled up to what looked like a disused warehouse in Sacramento and parked with the other cars and the Sons on their bikes. Pixie checked her plaits in the rear view mirror before hopping out. She'd put Hello Kitty bobbles on the ends of them to amp up the cute factor. Tig came to greet them, having gone down earlier to put Pixie on the roster and secure her spot. He grinned, seeing Pixie in her all pink boxing gear and clocked that she'd put pink bandaging around her thigh to cover the IRA scars.

"Hey, they're just setting up the fighters, Pixie's on in about fifteen." He said to the others before putting his arm around Pixie. "You nervous?"

Pixie grinned. "Nah, I got this."

"You better." Clay grunted. "Chibs, wrap her hands, let's go score some ringside seats." He ordered before marching in with Bobby, Half-Sack and Cherry. Juice had been placed on Tara watch and Jax was finishing up Abel's room with Gemma. After the Chinese food, Happy had driven off without another word to the group and hadn't been seen since then. Pixie was a little disappointed to see that he wasn't there with the others to watch her fight, but she guessed he was probably keeping an eye on Jax or doing something important. She watched Chibs methodically wrap her hands and wriggled her fingers a few times to make sure they weren't too tight.

"If ye need ta stop tha fight at any point, grab tha bottom rope, and we'll get ye out, okay, lass?" Chibs instructed as he finished Pixie's hands.

"Yeah, what's the signal for when you want me to fight back on the last round?"

"One of us will smack the mat, it'll look like we're just annoyed that you're losing us money to others." Tig told her.

"That's good, okay, I'm all set." Pixie nodded, she reached for Chibs and Tig to pull them both in for a hug before they walked in together. Pixie adjusted her stance and mannerisms to appear nervous as she took in her surroundings once they'd entered the warehouse. There were four rings set out along the length of the warehouse so they were separated out. There was all kinds of people milling around, some in business suits with fancy watches and champagne flutes, and others who'd looked like they just got out of prison ten minutes ago. As Chibs and Tig escorted Pixie to the first ring where the others were waiting, the crowd seemed at Pixie with a mixture of confusion and disbelief on their faces. Pixie smiled at a few of them shyly, making sure she was feeding into their judgements that they'd made about her. She knew they were thinking she'd either gotten the wrong building, or that there had to be a mistake. They were looking at the other fighters, all gnarly looking men on the heavier side of the lightweight category and back at this small woman dressed in pink with Hello Kitty bobbles and socks peeking out of her brand new boxing trainers. They were writing her off the second they saw her and Pixie spressed a grin, knowing she had the crowd exactly where she wanted them. She gave her hoodie to bobby as Tig held the ropes and Chibs gave Pixie a boost so she could clamber up into the ring of her first opponent, a Mexican guy who stood about the same height as Juice, though he was much broader and had some interesting looking tribal tattoos.

"Hi, I'm Pixie." Pixie said to the guy.

The guy did a double take. "This is a joke! I ain't fighting no one legged bitch!" He exclaimed, looking at the referees.

"She signed up, there's no rules against it. You back out of this fight, it's a loss on your end." The ref called back.

"No! Hernandez doesn't lose." The opponent shouted.

"Did you just talk about yourself in the third person?" Pixie giggled. "You sound like a cartoon movie villain." Pixie joked, purposely prodding her opponent's ego.

"Shut up!" The guy growled. The referee called for Pixie and Hernandez to get in their corners and the fight began. Pixie shuffled around and let Hernandez knock her down a couple of times and landed a few hits when she saw easy openings so it looked like she did actually know what she was doing, but was a newbie, rather than the talented fighter she really was. They did a couple of rounds until the ref's announced Hernandez had won. The Sons did a good job of looking displeased and Pixie shuffled with her head down to get some water and then headed to the next ring. This time there was a tall guy with pale skin and brown eyes. He had a buzz cut and a scar on one cheek. He laughed when Chibs set Pixie in the ring and looked like he was going to thoroughly enjoy beating on Pixie as she introduced herself. The fight went the same way, and word got around that the good money was on Pixie's opponents, as more people came to watch her get tossed around. Chibs winced when the guy landed a hard hit to the side of Pixie's chest and he saw real pain flash across her eyes as she flopped to the mat, wheezing. She got right back up though, and Chibs hoped she would be able to get through the next two rounds, whilst worrying that maybe Pixie had bitten off more than she could chew. Once the referees called the win, Tig hopped up to help Pixie get down whilst Clay got her an ice pack for her side, seeing how the skin was turning an angry red and purple under her tally marks. They took a break as the fighters in the ring finished their round. Chibs checked Pixie's head for injuries as she'd taken a few hits from Hernandez and the other guy.

"Ye doin' okay?"

"Yeah, the ice pack's helping, I'll get through." Pixie nodded, making eye contact with Chibs so he knew she was doing better than she was letting on. Tig watched her leg bouncing next to his and he could tell she was really trying to reign in her energy, just holding it all back until the final round. She'd been a lot less active in the first two rings, barely moving around and taking the blows instead of dodging too much. He rubbed her back and kissed her temple, trying to calm his nerves. He hated seeing Pixie being knocked around by the other fighters, it made him want to jump in and go in for the kill, she was _his_ angel and he wanted so badly to protect her.

"Pixie!" A voice called, and the Sons looked up to see Piney and Opie weaving through the crowd. Pixie jumped up immediately and hugged them when they reached the group. "Jax told us where you guys were. We wanted to come support ya." Opie grinned. He took in Pixie's bruised state and winced.

"Thanks guys, that means a lot." Pixie said truthfully. "I'm not doing so hot, but we'll see how it plays out." Pixie alluded.

"Yeah, Jax explained." Opie nodded, letting her know he knew about the plan. Piney finished speaking with Clay and moved over to Pixie, giving her a gentle hug as he caught sight of the bruise on her side.

"We're rooting for you, sweetheart." He beamed at her.

The referee called for the next fighters to take the ring and this time Opie was the one to lift Pixie onto the platform, realising that it would be difficult for Pixie to climb up it. Her opponent was a middle-aged man who looked like Jason Statham and he snorted when he realised Pixie was going to fight him.

"Oh this is gonna be easy." The guy cackled as the referee called for the match to start. Pixie landed a few easy hits to the guy's stomach and dodged a few hits, showing that she was a bit more on the ball, she had to make sure that when she took down the guy in the final fight, that it seemed plausible and that she got lucky, rather than it coming out of nowhere. She managed to get in a head shot and her opponent responded in kind, managing to get a direct hit to the side of Pixie's head. She staggered and felt her knees go to jelly but she didn't drop. The fight continued like this, with Pixie dropping a few times to make sure the referees would call the fight in her opponent's favour. When they did, Chibs hauled her out, checking her over and calling for Tig to fetch an ice pack for Pixie's head.

"Are ye sure yer alright, mo ghrá?" Chibs asked, his voice full of concern. "No one would blame ye if ye backed out."

Pixie shook her head. "I'm fine, Chibbie. I promise, I can do this." She insisted. She looked around as Tig came back with the ice pack. "Any sign of Happy?"

"Nope, sorry baby." Tig said, watching as Pixie's face fell. "I swear I'm gonna kill that asshole when he reappears."

"He's probably doing something important, it's okay, Tiggy." Pixie said, reaching for him for comfort.

"Yeah, but this was important to you." Tig insisted. "I know you wanted him to come see you fight, angel."

"I did." Pixie admitted. "But I also know club business takes precedence, so I understand."

Bobby came over with fresh water in Pixie's water bottle. "I just spoke to Jax, he's on his way up here, wanted to see you."

"Thanks, Bobs." Pixie smiled. She took a mouthful of water and swilled it around in her mouth, rinsing the cuts on her the inside of her cheeks from where her teeth had cut them when she was punched. "Okay, I'm ready when this fight stops." Pixie gestured to the ring where two men were beating on each other. They watched as the referee called the match to a close and the winner did a victory dance before both opponents left the ring, bruised and bloody. Pixie's last opponent jumped the ropes into the ring and Tig almost choked on the beer he was drinking. There was no way that this guy fit the lightweight category. He had bulging muscles and looked to be about six foot, if not more. The guy was covered in skull tattoos and had a face that looked like he'd been boxing for a while, his nose was misshapen and there were scars all over him. He looked down at Pixie eyes wide.

"There's no way he's your opponent, he can't possibly be a lightweight."

"The referees seem to want him in." Pixie said as she stood up and moved towards the beckoning referee. Tig tried to argue with them but they threatened to kick Pixie out, so he begrudgingly let her go. Pixie kissed him on the cheek before Opie gave her a boost onto the edge of the ring. From the platform, Pixie spotted Jax and surprisingly, Juice making their way through the crowd. She waved to them and Juice spotted her immediately, grabbing Jax by the shoulder and pulling him in the right direction through the crowds. Pixie scanned the crowd for Happy one last time and sighed when she realised he wasn't coming, she moved through the ropes into the ring and heard her opponent jeer.

"This isn't a girl scout pillow fight." He sneered at her.

"No, I know, I came down here just to try my hand at real boxing." Pixie explained politely.

The opponent snickered. "Real boxing isn't for little girls like you. I'm gonna send you to an early grave." The guy grinned menacingly. Pixie heard a scuffle and caught Bobby and Clay holding back Tig out of her periphery.

"It didn't say anything about gender in the rules for this place." Pixie shrugged.

"What, you trying to earn your tough cookie girl scout badge?" The guy teased aggressively, causing the crowd to laugh and cheer. Pixie smiled to herself, knowing she was going to thoroughly enjoy beating the living daylights out of this asshole.

"Something like that." Pixie grinned. "Good luck."

"Pft, I don't need luck!" The guy growled, getting into his corner. The referee called for the match to begin and Pixie let her opponent knock her down, knowing that this would secure the highest number of bids against her. She got in a couple of hits to the guy's head and chest before he knocked her down again. She winced as he managed to get a head shot in and punched her in the mouth. Her bottom lip split against her canine and she found herself going over, she landed on the mat with an 'oof'. Pausing for a second to catch her breath, she pulled herself up and the referee called for a pause so Pixie could rinse her mouth out. Chibs and Tig jumped up giving Pixie her water bottle and a bucket to spit in. Pixie used both items and Chibs put his hand on the back of her neck, leaning in close to wipe her mouth with a towel.

"Bets are all in, lass. One more fall an' then take tha' fucker down." He said into her ear. Pixie nodded and leaned over so Tig could kiss her temple.

"Come on! Come fight me! Or are you too scared now?" Pixie's opponent jeered.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, mate." Pixie called back, turning around.

"You're not gonna win any beauty contests with that fat lip." The guy said, obviously pleased with his handiwork.

"You weren't gonna win any anyways, so at least we're even." Pixie shrugged, grinning. There were 'oooo's' from the crowd as they picked up on what Pixie was saying. "Although, my lip can heal, not sure your face is salvageable, especially as it seems you weren't exactly a looker before you took all those head shots."

The guy growled, pissed at Pixie's smart-mouth. This was exactly what Pixie wanted, the more riled up he got, the more he was likely to lash out, rather than rely on techniques to get the job done. "You better shut up, girl scout bitch."

"Make me." Pixie grinned. The referee called for them to continue, and Pixie dodged and swerved more, making the guy work for it, she wiggled her eyebrows at him when he missed an easy hit, rubbing it in his face. He finally managed to get a hit, a very powerful one to Pixie's chest and she found herself toppling over backwards. She opened her eyes and froze as she looked into two fierce brown eyes through the ropes. Pixie grinned as Happy slammed his palm down on the mat next to her head, the signal for Pixie to kick the guy's ass. Exhilarated at seeing that against all odds, Happy had made it, and excited at the fact that she was going to finally get to unleash all her pent up energy on her opponent. She felt the adrenaline course through her veins and her mental state shift into her killing mode. Pixie did a karate kick up onto her feet and smacked her left fist into her right hand as she looked into the face of her opponent and let out a war cry. The crowd seemed to go silent for a second as they took in Pixie stalking forwards towards the guy, who looked thoroughly taken aback and shaken by Pixie's newfound aggressiveness. She caught a 'holy shit!' from Jax as she threw her first punch, timing it right to slide her small fist under the guy's elbows where he'd tried to block her and connected with his chin. The guy's head flew back and he staggered, arms flailing to catch his balance, leaving his diaphragm and face open to Pixie's awaiting fists. He staggered back and landed a few hits to Pixie which she returned straight back. Pixie boxed him into the corner landing blow after blow to the cheers of the Sons and the gasps of the crowd. The guy got a head shot in which had Pixie tumbling backwards. She did a backwards roll to get herself back on her feet, then surged forwards, did a jump which the opponent wasn't expecting and she smacked her right fist as hard as she could into his temple. The guy staggered and she let him move out the corner, watching for the opening. Sure enough, the dazed opponent turned and went for a hit. Pixie dodged and used the opening to deliver a punch straight to his eye with her left fist. The guy went over backwards, out cold. There was a brief pause until the Sons roared out cheers of celebration and the crowd followed suit, with a mixture of groans from the ones who's bet big figures on Pixie's opponent, and the others who knew they lost, but were just overtaken with the excitement that this girl dressed all in pink just K.O-ed a veteran fighter. Pixie put her arms up in celebration as the referees came to first-aid the guy. Happy was over the ropes with Tig and they pulled Pixie up between them, sitting her on their shoulders for a second before pulling her down and lifting her over to Opie so she could be hugged and fussed over by the excited Sons. Chibs scooped her up into his arms and kissed her forehead.

"THAT'S MA LASSIE!" He cheered. "Ye just won us big bucks, mo ghrá! I'm so proud of ye!"

Clay came over and clapped Pixie on the back, giving her a rare hug. "Well done, kid." He nodded.

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie sat on the floor of the van with her legs over the edge as Cherry wrapped her in a blanket and Chibs cleaned and disinfected her open wounds and checked her bruises.

"You have some serious balls, girl." Cherry said as she sat down next to Pixie. The other guys had gone to collect the money off of all the betters, knowing that they'd be reluctant to give up such a large amount. The figures weren't clear yet, but there was well over forty thousand at Bobby's last count.

"Thanks, Cherry. It was pretty fun to be honest. The last bit, not so much the first three rounds, but they're worth it for the final payoff."

"I'll say." Cherry grinned, she looked over to Chibs as he unwrapped Pixie's hands and assessed the damage to her knuckles. "What's the prognosis, doc?"

Chibs grinned. "Well, miss, our little fighter's gonna live ta see another day."

"That's a relief." Pixie grinned, then immediately winced in pain as Chibs undid the wrapping on her right hand. "Think my right index is dislocated again. It does that occasionally after I fractured my hand punching a tree." Pixie explained. Chibs raised an eyebrow.

"What were ye doin' punch a tree fer, ya wee muppet?" He asked, feeling Pixie's hand. Sure enough, the knuckle at the base of Pixie's right index finger was out of place.

"I was a stupid sixteen year old with anger issues." Pixie grinned. "It was after my first kill, my head was all messed up and instead of doing the logical thing of pulling over and talking to someone, I did the impulsive thing of pulling over and punching a tree with both fists, and ended up with two boxer's fractures.

"Ouch." Cherry winced.

Chibs shook his head. "Yer a daft one."  
"Yep, I don't usually need to go to the hospital when the joint pops out, usually just need it clicking back in place and it ends up fine." Pixie explained.

Chibs nodded, he'd seen this type of injury before when he used to box in his youth. "Pixie, tell Cherry ye favourite breakfast cereals." Chibs said changing the subject and hoping to distract Pixie for a second whilst he clicked her knuckle back into place.

Pixie grinned, thinking about her favourite foods. "I love Lucky Charms, Fruity Pebbles are good, though Coco Pops have a really great cho- _YEBAT_! " Pixie yelped as Chibs forced her knuckle back into place with a crack. "Sorry, it hurts like all hell when the knuckle goes back in." Pixie said sheepishly.

Cherry giggled. "Was that Russian?"  
"Yeah, I can swear in three languages." Pixie grinned. "Yebat means fuck."

"Yer gonna have ta keep this hand wrapped fer a bit, least until tha swellin' goes down and ye joint heals." Chibs said as Cherry passed him the clean bandages and he tended to Pixie's hand.

"Thought as much, thanks, Chibbie. Least my lip doesn't need stitches."

"Aye. it'll be nasty fer a couple 'o' days but it should heal fine." Chibs nodded looking Pixie over. She was covered head to toe in cuts and bruises, there were friction grazes on Pixie's knees from where she'd tumbled around the mat, and her chest and sides looked red and purple from all the bruising, but Pixie was doing alright, much to Chibs' relief. The trio heard shouts and turned to see the group of rowdy Sons approaching, they all had manic grins as they bounced off of one another like a pack of over-excited dogs. Pixie winced as she got up, eager to greet them.

"How'd we do?" She asked.

Clay marched up to her, and then put an arm around her shoulders, a massive smile on his face. "You just earned the club fifty K." he announced.

Pixie did a double take. "Woah! _Really_?"

"Oh yeah, there was a lot of money being exchanged ringside on the last one, people were hoping to make easy money on your opponent." Bobby explained. "You did amazing, girlie." He hugged her a little too tight and Pixie let out a small squeak. "Sorry, sweetheart." He winced. "You got a good beating, though I'd hate to be the guy you flattened tonight, you looked like a tiny pink warrior up there."

"Sounded like it too, that war cry got everyone's attention." Jax grinned. "The guy looked like he was about to shit a brick when you came at him."

"Most people would, Pixie's terrifying when she gets going." Juice said proudly as he carefully looped an arm around her shoulder. "Well done, cariño."

"Thanks, mi estúpido bebé." She grinned up at him.

Juice breathed out a sigh like he was annoyed, but his happy grin stayed. "You're lucky you're all banged up at the minute."

"Like you would actually beat me up, you love me too much." Pixie smiled, knowing she was right.

"That's true, still doesn't mean I can't thump you with a pillow."

Pixie giggled. "I'm really glad you came down."  
"Me too." Juice grinned, kissing her temple

"Speaking of." Pixie suddenly remembered, she limped up to where Happy was leaning up against the van. "Where did you go off to? You almost missed the fight!" Pixie fussed.

Happy carefully scooped Pixie up into a hug, trying to be as gentle as possible with her. "Fixed your problem."  
"What problem?" Pixie asked as he set her down on the edge of the van so Pixie would rest her legs. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a ziplock bag, tossing it into Pixie's lap. The others crowded around to see what it was. Puzzled, Pixie picked up the bag, she could see what looked like a thick black wallet in there, and when she turned the bag over to see the other side of the black leather, she dropped it in shock. Staring back at her was Kohn's ATF Identification card and badge in the leather holder. The clear plastic cover of the ID card slot was flecked with congealed blood. She looked up at Happy with wide eyes. "Geez! Happy!" She hissed.

"What? He was threatening Jax and stressing you out. He needed to go. So I got him." Happy shrugged like he couldn't understand what Pixie's shock was about. She passed the ziplock to Jax who had a similar reaction.

"You killed a fed!" Jax hissed at him. "Well, shit at least he's out of our hair now." Jax laughed. He passed the bag around to the others.

"This better not blow back on the club." Clay warned.

"They won't find him." Happy said calmly and firmly.

"Out of curiosity, where is he?" Pixie asked.

"Drain sludge." Happy said nonchalantly.

"And his rental car?"

"Cleaned and returned."  
"Hotel room?"

"Checked out and cleaned."  
"Phone?"

"Smashed in a drain in Lodi."

"Luggage and clothes?"

"Goodwills in Sacramento, Stockton and Morada."

"Okay, that's good." Pixie nodded. "How did you find him?"

"Lurking in the hospital parking lot."

Jax nodded. "Well thanks, dude. What do we say when the feds come searching?"

"The truth, we have no idea where he is." Clay nodded. "Tell Tara that the police escort worked, no more."

"Ai'ght. I needed to see her anyway." Jax nodded. He looked thoroughly relieved, which made Pixie smile. "So let me get this straight, you killed him 'coz Pixie was upset about it?"

Happy put a toothpick in his mouth and looked down affectionately at Pixie before nodding. "Yeah. He had to die. Like a lot."

"Geez, you've got this whole club whipped, Pipsqueak." Jax laughed.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	61. Tig's House

**WARNING: SMUT THROUGHOUT CHAPTER**

The group dropped Pixie off at Tig's house and Pixie watched as Tig parked up his bike and then eagerly picked her up, carrying her up the stone path to his front door which was painted a dark red and had three frosted window panes at the top. The house was a square two story building and looked slightly larger than Chibs' with a front and back garden. Tig set Pixie down for a second as he jammed the key in the door, twisted and pulled it up, unlocking it and pushed it open.

"The lock's dodgy, been meaning to get it fixed, but it still works." Tig explained. He flicked the lights on for the hallway and Pixie took in her surroundings. The walls were painted white with a dark hardwood floor. To her right was a row of wooden pegs with a couple of coats on and two empty slots. There was a doorway next to them leading into the lounge area and another doorway on her left which looks like it led into the kitchen. There was a door at the end of the hall and a staircase leading upstairs.

"I like it." Pixie smiled up at him.

"Good." Tig grinned as he slipped his kutte off and hung it on the peg and then motioned for Pixie to do the same, although he had to help when he realised the peg's were over his head height and Pixie was significantly shorter than him, so couldn't reach. "I'll have to fix that, baby." He teased her. "I say we get you cleaned up, and I'll order takeout as it's late and you look exhausted." Tig suggested. "What do you want?"

Pixie pretended to think about it and then reached up to loop her arms around his neck. "You." She joked, kissing his chin, Tig carefully lifted her, trying not to jostle her bruises.

"Well you got me, baby, but we need food." He insisted, nuzzling her neck.

"Pizza?" Pixie asked.

"Sure, what kind do you like? I'm a big fan of the meat feast." Tig smiled, gently kissing her.

"Veggie please, can... can we maybe get ice cream too?" Pixie asked shyly, hoping she wasn't pushing her luck.

Tig grinned. "Anything you want, angel."

"Really?" Pixie looked at him like she didn't quite believe it.

"Yeah! You deserve it!" Tig laughed as he carried her into the downstairs bathroom at the end of the hall and flicked on the light, setting Pixie down on the black dresser. "You're so silly sometimes, you know that, right?" Tig teased.

"What do you mean?" Pixie giggled as Tig moved to unlace her trainers.

"You just earned the club fifty K, and these past few days you've been holding the club together, and yet you think you don't deserve ice cream."

Pixie squirmed a little. "I can't help that, I always feel like there's something more I could do, I never feel like I've done enough."

Tig stopped unlacing to put his hands on either side of her face so he could look deep into her hazel eyes. "You've done _enough_ , baby. You've proven yourself." Tig said firmly.

Pixie nodded slowly. "Okay. I'll try. I've always been like this. You know my Highton club tried to award me a "Men of Mayhem" patch for killing the bastard who tried to fire at Bruce, but I refused, because although I'd killed for the club, it felt like I'd failed, he got so close, I should've spotted the fucker earlier but I was playing around with one of the other members and didn't spot him until it was almost too late."

Tig almost couldn't believe his ears. "Baby! You saved Bruce, that's it. It doesn't matter how close he got, or that you were goofing off. What matters is you got the asshole who tried to kill the club's president. That's an amazing achievement."

"I know, but-"

"But _nothing._ Did any other members spot him or take shots?"

"No, but-"

"So you were the only one?"

"Yeah." Pixie said, seeing Tig's point.

"Exactly, you stepped up, you earned that achievement. I don't wanna hear you say another bad thing about yourself tonight, doll. You're incredible and you did amazing tonight, let yourself ride this high for once."

Pixie nodded, reaching for Tig to kiss him. "Thank you, Tiggy, you're the best."

"You're the best baby." Tig smiled, he kissed her forehead and then finished taking off her trainers. "C'mon let's get you showered, so you're clean, then I'll order the pizzas and get you in a bubble bath to help your muscles."

Pixie smiled. "That sounds like a good plan." She watched as Tig turned the shower on to let the water heat up then came back to help her get undressed and get her prosthetic off, especially as she was using her right hand gingerly and it looked like it was causing her pain. Tig cradled it, seeing the bandaging.

"Was this 'coz of the fight?"

"Yeah, I popped the base knuckle of my right index out again. It happens if I punch too hard, I felt it go when I hit the last guy's temple, but I was too focused on knocking him to the mat to do anything, and the wrappings I had on were holding it in place. Chibs put it back in and wrapped it after." Pixie explained.

Tig winced and gently kissed her hand. "My poor angel." He fussed. "You sure it's nothing that needs looking at?"

Pixie shook her head. "This has happened a bunch of times before, and the pain isn't any worse than those times, so I think it just needs resting, it started happening after that time I punched the tree."

"After your first kill? Yeah, I remember you telling me." Tig recalled. "I'll help you rewrap it after your shower."  
"Thanks." Pixie kissed his cheek and then stood up to shimmy out of her shorts, Tig helped her take the bandage off of her thigh and kissed it before guiding Pixie to the shower, making sure she was able to balance and brace herself under the jet. He heard her wince and whipped around immediately.

"What's up?"

"Just the water on all the scratches and scrapes, I'll be fine, big guy." Pixie assured him as she tipped her head back under the stream to let the water flow through her hair. Satisfied that he could take his eye off of her for a moment, Tig stepped out to order the food, and to answer Chibs' text as to whether Pixie was alright. Once he'd done what he needed to, he went back to the bathroom to make sure Pixie was okay. He ended up joining her in the shower as he realised she was struggling to stay upright and wash herself one-handed. Tig was more than happy to oblige, it meant he got to put his hands all over his girl, and he liked being there for her, and feeling needed. When they were done he wrapped her up in the red bath towel and set her down on the dresser again so she was safe whilst he dried himself off. He grabbed a strawberry bubble bath he'd picked up earlier that week in anticipation and passed it to Pixie for approval. He'd never actually used the downstairs bath before, it was a large one, and looked more like a hot tub than a bath with tiled edging and sides which matched the grey bathroom tiles. Tig finished drying off and reached for his shirt, laughing when Pixie swiped it out of his hands.

"I need to get dressed, darlin'." He chuckled, trying to catch Pixie's hand as she tried to dodge his.

"No you don't." Pixie argued back playfully.

"And why's that?"  
"'Coz I like seeing you nakey." Pixie grinned cheekily.

Tig groaned lustily at her. "I know, but I don't think the pizza guy will appreciate it." he chuckled.

"But I do." Pixie smiled coyly, reaching for his waist so she could tug him closer for a kiss, her hands roaming Tig's body as their mouths moved against each other, which earnt her a growl. She knew she was asking for it, but Pixie loved teasing Tig, so she nibbled on his lower lip as her good hand snaked south before he grabbed her wrists.

"What are you up to, kitten?" Tig crooned, his pupils blown with lust and his voice deep and gruff.

"I was exploring my man." Pixie murmured back, leaning forwards to rest her head on Tig's chest, kissing him there and nuzzling him. "Until I was rudely interrupted." She joked.

"You're exhausted, baby, and yet you're still trying to cause more mischief." Tig chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "Tonight's all about you, we need to get you feeling relaxed."

"But I want you." Pixie looked up at him. "And you make me feel relaxed." Pixie bit the spiral charm on Tig's necklace, tugging on it ever so slightly.

He kissed her nose. " _Later_. How's that?" Tig offered. "We can have pizza and ice cream, get you in a bath before bed, " Tig laid out his plan, "and then I'll make you feel really good." He finished with a growl, hands releasing her wrists to hold her sides as he leant forwards and kissed the side of her neck. "Agreed." He murmured against her skin.

"Okay." Pixie nodded. "Can we still snuggle? I love being close to you." Pixie pouted and Tig went weak at the knees as soon as he saw it. It was like trying to say no to a sad puppy.

"Of course, baby." He fussed over her, kissing her cheeks.

💀💀💀

Pixie smiled gently as her head rested against Tig's chest. She felt like her muscles were jelly at this point, as she was so relaxed. Tig had taken pampering to new levels and Pixie felt thoroughly cared for. After their shower, he'd dressed her in old Harley t-shirts and shorts, and then wrapped her up in a blanket on the sofa of Tig's den. It was a long room with a door at the far side of the room connecting to the garage. The walls were a dark blue, though there were various shades of greys, greens and reds along it, where he'd tried to decide what colour he wanted the room to be. There was a fireplace in the center of the wall, with two large bookcases either side. There was a pool table and a couple of couches dotted around at the far end, and a sofa next to a tv set at the opposite end. They'd snuggled up and watched "The Loveless" whilst they ate their pizza and ice cream, Tig even going so far as to try and spoon feed Pixie when he caught her struggling to simultaneously hold her strawberry ice cream tub and get her spoon into the thick ice cream. Once they'd had their fill of food, Tig had pulled Pixie into his lap, snuggling and kissing her and murmuring sweet nothings whilst they finished watching the film. Towards the end of it, Tig's hand had wriggled under Pixie's blanket and lazily stroked through her folds, toying with her clit and massaging it with his big rough hands. His ministrations had brought Pixie to a gentle orgasm that left her feeling like a warm, satisfied puddle of goo snuggled up against a very smug Tig. When the film had ended, he'd taken Pixie into the bathroom where he'd started up the bath, pouring a generous amount of bubble bath in, much to Pixie's delight as she watched the mountain of foam advancing across the expanse of the bath. Once it was ready, Tig had climbed in, settling himself on one of the low seats and then leant over the edge to help Pixie in. Pixie had immediately started up a bubble fight, trying to cover Tig in as much foam as she could before he'd pinned her against him, covering her in foam and tickling her until Pixie surrendered with a squeak. Now they were tucked up together in the bath, Tig lazily smoking a cigarette, his other hand drawing idle shapes and designs on Pixie's back as she leant against him. Her head was nestled under his chin, her right hand resting on his shoulder to keep the bandage dry and out of the bath whilst her left gently grasped Tig's bicep. Pixie looked up at Tig and smiled, there were still small bubbles in his goatee and one on his eyebrow, his curls were madder than ever, and his trademark icy blues were unfocused, staring at the tiles. He was deep in thought, his thumb was stroking his chin in between drags on his cigarette.

"Where's your head at?" Pixie asked sleepily.

Tig looked down at her, pulling Pixie up a little so he could see her face better. He grinned and tapped his index finger on his temple. "Right here, doll."

Pixie rolled her eyes and let out a small giggle. "I know, goofy, I _meant_ , what're you thinking about? I can hear your mind whirling."

Tig kissed her forehead and shrugged. "Dunno, baby, lots of little things. Was thinking I need to mod my bike again, make sure I can keep up with you, might have a better chance at keeping you out of trouble that way." he nuzzled his nose against hers. "Also thinking about how this house suddenly feels nicer with you in it. Not as quiet or as big."

Pixie smiled, kissing Tig's jaw. "Good luck trying to keep me out of trouble." She giggled. "When did you buy this house?"

"Couple of years after the divorce, I bounced around motels and the clubhouse for a while, then it came up on the market and I went for it, thinking it'd be a nice place to crash in the evenings, but it got lonely pretty fast, and I quickly realised that a one-man DIY team wasn't going to get this place finished."

"What about a one-man-one-woman DIY team?" Pixie asked.

Tig smiled. "Yeah, I think that'd do it." He hugged her closer.

"Me too, we'll make this house into a home."  
" _Our_ home." Tig agreed, kissing her. "I'm so proud of you, baby. You really came through for the club tonight."  
Pixie blushed a little. "I did what had to be done." She shrugged and thought back over the fights. "I'm sorry you had to see me get smushed into the mat the first three rounds, I saw how it was getting to you on the last one."

"It was more to do with that asshole threatening you, he mentioned your grave and I just lost it." Tig growled, subconsciously hugging Pixie to him protectively. " _Nobody_ threatens my baby."

Pixie smiled, feeling the immense love Tig had for her. "I'm glad I have you in my corner, and I'll always protect you too, you're my big, rugged, handsome, biker man." Pixie smiled, kissing a trail up Tig's chest to his lips, where she gently bit and nibbled his lower lip, whilst she moved her left leg over his so she could straddle Tig's lap.

"You really know what to say to make a man hard." Tig chuckled, though his voice had become deeper and gravelly.

"Oh yeah?" Pixie purred, grinding her hips against his. Tig put his head back against the wall and growled, the mixture of the hot water and Pixie moving against him was sending him wild. Sensing this, Pixie leant forwards and gently nibbled on Tig's ear lobe, then kissed down his neck, biting the spot she knew made him lose it.

"Mmm...baby girl." Tig growled, he stubbed his cigarette out in the ashtray on the edge of the and then he began to wander his hands along Pixie's sides, trying to be gentle enough not to hurt Pixie. "The things I'm thinking of doing to you." He murmured, sitting up a little to kiss her whilst his hands made their way to Pixie's chest, he took her breasts in his hands and ran his thumbs in circular motions over her nipples. Pixie gasped, her back arching under his ministrations.

"What're you thinking?" Pixie panted breathlessly, bucking her hips fervently as Tig kissed his way down her chest and lifted her with his legs so he could suck and bite her breasts.

"Thinkin' I'm gonna tease you until you're begging for me, then I'm gonna take you upstairs, lay you down on my bed and taste every part of you. Have you moaning and squirming, all for me." Tig's voice was low and husky and Pixie shivered at the thought.

"I want that." Pixie moaned as Tig's hands went to her hips so he could grind against her. His hard-on was rubbing deliciously against her clit and Pixie could barely see straight. "Please, Tiggy."

Tig moved an arm up to support the back of Pixie's head as she wriggled against him, her muscles turning to jelly. He smiled at Pixie's flushed face and the way she clung to him needily. "Such a good girl for me." He crooned, watching as Pixie wriggled against him, her right hand going to rest behind his neck to keep it out of the water, whilst her left snaked under. He couldn't see what she was up to, due to the bubbles, suddenly feeling her small nimble fingers grasp his cock and start to squeeze and massage. Tig let out an audible moan and a gasp and Pixie's eyes opened, her mischievous twinkle was back and she leant closer.

"Two can play the teasing game." She whispered, her voice sultry and sexy. Her thumb swiped along his sensitive head and Tig shuddered.

"Oh god, baby, you're so perfect." Tig moaned, his hands wandering Pixie's body like he was trying to memorise every curve and muscle. He let himself enjoy the moment before he captured her hand, moving it away from his member so he could turn Pixie around so her back was to his front, then he pushed his knees up in between Pixie's legs so she had to open them wider as he trapped her legs between his knees and the sides of the tub on either side. Once she was secure and couldn't wriggle free, Tig moved his hands down, toying with Pixie's clit whilst his other hand circled her entrance teasingly.

"Tiggy!" Pixie gasped, her back arching as she looked up at him, her pupils blown with lust and need as she begged and pleaded with him to do more.

"Yeah, baby?" He asked her. He loved playing this game, driving Pixie wild and then acting as if he wasn't doing anything and just having a normal conversation.

"I need you." Pixie gasped out as Tig pressed his thumb down on her clit and then slid a finger into her. "Oooh, more, please." She whined biting her lip.

Tig smiled, kissing her cheek. "Always so polite, even when I'm teasing you, such a good angel for me." He decided to reward her good behaviour and began to pump his finger in and out, before gently adding a second and stretching her out. Pixie's breathing was ragged and her chest was looking flushed as she tried to move her legs, wanting more stimulation. Tig kept them pinned, but increased his pace with her clit, knowing that that was what she needed.

"Ah!" Pixie squeaked. "Tiggy! I'm gonna..." She trailed off as she tried to catch her breath.

He nuzzled her ear. "Cum for me, kitten." He crooned, kissing her cheek. Pixie's body stiffened up and her legs spasmed against his, like a little frog. He watched as her mouth opened in a silent "O" before her eyes went wide and she bit her lip, riding out her orgasm as he helped her through it. When she went limp against Tig, he hugged her to him, feeling a sense of pride and satisfaction of being able to bring Pixie to her ultimate pleasure, but something was nagging at him. At the cabin, Pixie had been vocal, moaning and squealing her way through her orgasms, but both times he's made her reach her high tonight, she'd barely made a sound, opting to bite her lip instead. Tig reached across and pulled the plug, letting the cooling water out. "Baby?" He asked as he gently sat Pixie up.

"Handsome?" Pixie copied his tone, smiling up at him as she turned around.

"Are you holding back on me?"

Pixie looked at him confused. "What?"

"At the cabin, you were moaning and gasping so prettily for me, but now, you're holding it all back, I saw your face, you were biting your lip. What's changed?"

Pixie squirmed under his gaze, she snuggled against him, hiding her face against his chest. "I felt self-conscious when I thought back over it the other day." Pixie mumbled, putting her arms around Tig's neck.

Tig's brow furrowed as he tried to work out why Pixie was feeling this way. "Baby," he tugged her shoulders gently so he could pull her back and see her face, "I want you to feel comfortable and safe with me, and I don't want you holding anything back with me, no fronts, no secrets, no walls, yeah?"

Pixie nodded. "Yeah, Tiggy."

"Okay, and there is _no_ reason for you to feel self-conscious with me, I love every part of you, and when I hear you moan and see you squirm, that lets me know that I'm doing something right. It lets me know that you're feeling good and _goddamn_ does it make me feel good to see and hear that. Besides, I know I'm loud when we do this stuff together, and if I'm not holding back, then I don't want you to, either." Tig explained gently, stroking Pixie's cheek before running his index finger down the bridge of Pixie's nose and then booping it gently.

Pixie nodded, feeling better. "Okay, I'll try, this all new territory for me, I don't have the confidence you have."

"And that's okay, we can work with that, darlin'." Tig crooned. "But if I see you bite your lip or hold back again, I'm just gonna make you cum twice as hard." He grinned, the mischievous twinkle in his eyes acting as a promise.

Pixie blushed. "Well, now that sounds like fun." She giggled leaning closer. "If I can't bite my lip, guess I'll have to nip at yours." She purred, kissing Tig hard before drawing in his bottom lip and nipping at it with her teeth eliciting a growling moan from Tig as he felt his heart pound with want.

☠️☠️☠️

Once they'd got dressed in their pyjamas again, Tig went to clear up the den whilst Pixie got them both drinks to take upstairs with them. Tig had taken her prosthetic upstairs along with the rest of her clothes, to make sure Pixie would rest her leg. She called out to him to tell him the drinks were ready and he said he'd bring them up in a second. Pixie decided to head up, wanting to go get into bed as she was feeling the exhaustion from the fight. Pixie got to the base of the stairs and realised there was only the banisters on one side of the staircase, meaning she would have to brace her right hand against the wall whilst she jumped up, holding the banisters on her left. Pixie made it up the first step, but as she jumped for the second, her hand slipped and she suddenly found herself tipping backwards. Pixie did a backwards roll down the step and landed with a 'thud' on the floor. Tig burst out of the den, finding Pixie starfished on her back on the floor, looking up at him sheepishly.

"I fell, sorry." Pixie giggled, wrinkling up her nose as she sat up.

"What happened, baby?" Tig fussed over her, plucking her up off of the floor and into his arms protectively. "You hurt?"

"I wanted to go get ready for bed, but lost my grip on the wall and slipped on the stairs." Pixie explained. "I only fell off the second step, so I'm alright." Pixie assured him.

Tig looked at her, confused. "What do you mean 'lost your grip on the wall'?"

Pixie wriggled out of his grip, hopping to the base of the stairs to show him.

"I can only hold the banister on this side, but there's nothing but flat wall to grab, and I have to hop up, or sit down and pull myself up each step backwards, but I don't want to risk scratching up my stump on the steps sitting down that way, as I have to be careful or it could get infected." Pixie explained, she turned around and saw the way Tig was staring at her, his icy blues intense. He moved towards her, hugging her close.

"I'm sorry baby, sometimes I forget you have to do things a little differently."  
"It's not your fault." Pixie stroked his face. "So you don't have to be sorry, it's just something I need to adjust to."

"We're both adjusting, angel. I know your independence means a lot to you, but I'm always here to help you, I think I'm gonna make it a rule that you keep away from the steps unless I'm with you for the time being." Tig kissed her cheek.

"Okay, I'm usually fine on them, though sometimes I catch my prosthetic foot on the edges sometimes as I don't always feel what's going on until it's too late." Pixie explained as Tig climbed the stairs with Pixie held firmly to him. He reached the bedroom and set Pixie down on the large king size four poster bed. It had a large black, solid hardwood frame making a thick head and footboard which connected making a rectangle at the top. The duvet was a dark blue, contrasting the walls which had been painted a dark brick red. There was a black dresser in one corner and a huge black wardrobe which Pixie guessed she could probably lie down along the length of it without any issue. There was a white sliding door opposite the foot of the bed which led into an ensuite.

"You like it in here?" Tig asked, watching Pixie take in her surroundings, her head on a swivel, he loved how curious Pixie was, and he had no doubt that once Pixie had her energy back, she'd be investigating all over his house.

"I do. It's very manly." Pixie grinned. "Your whole house is like a seventies bachelor pad."

Tig chuckled, putting his head down on Pixie's chest. "Hey, I'm not that outdated."

"Your decor certainly is." Pixie teased. "But I do like it, it's really you, and I love you."

"I love you too." Tig grinned, kissing her. He flipped her over onto her front and spanked her ass. "Though that's what you get for being cheeky." He growled into Pixie's ear as she giggled and squealed. He ran his hands over Pixie's body, feeling how her muscles were still a little tense and sore from the fight. "I'm gonna get some arnica gel from the bathroom, I use it when I've had fights and stuff, it should help your muscles." He hissed the shell of her ear. "Stay put."

Tig got off the bed and sauntered into the bathroom, Pixie watched him go, taking in his bare torso and the way his grey sweatpants hung on his hips. She lay back and stared up at the top bars of the four poster bed, the hyperactive gymnast in her was dying to see if she could climb up there. Pixie's chaotic streak overrode her sleepiness, she just had to _know_ if she could do it. Pixie sat up, then held onto the right post at the foot of the bed, using it to balance as she stood up and jumped on the plush mattress, gaining momentum before she jumped properly, grabbing the top bar with her left hand, and using it to pull herself up whilst she hooked her legs over it and sat. Pixie placed her right hand gingerly on the top of the bar for balance, the bed didn't even creak once during her scramble onto the bar, so Pixie was satisfied that it could take her weight. She flipped upside down, just as Tig came out of the ensuite bathroom.

"Pixie!" He barked with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. "Could you not stay out of trouble for five seconds?"

Pixie giggled watching Tig stalk forwards, setting the tube of gel down. "I'm a gymnast, you can't have a four poster bed and _not_ expect me to climb it.

"You've already fallen once tonight, and you've been beaten up, give your muscles a rest, babe." Tig reasoned.

"But I'm feeling jittery." Pixie pouted at him.

"How did you get up in the first place?" Tig looked at his upside down girlfriend.

"I jumped and then pulled myself up with my left hand." Pixie explained, she swung and kicked her legs out so she flipped, landing on the bed on her front with a giggle. "Is that better?" She asked Tig cheekily as she rolled over. He climbed onto the bed so he could tuck her under him.

"Yeah, no more climbing tonight." Tig said firmly, though he couldn't help but smile at Pixie's happy face. She wrapped her legs around his waist to pull him closer.

"Okay." Pixie nodded, kissing Tig's cheek.

"Good girl." Tig extracted himself from Pixie's grip and eased her out of her t-shirt and shorts. "Lie on your front and I'll massage your back." Pixie did as he asked, though she wriggled her hips at him, making Tig chuckle, he straddled her working in the gel and easing the tension out of her muscles. Pixie seemed to settle under him and Tig continued, working the gel into her legs and ass, leaving no bruise or muscle behind. Once the gel was fully soaked in, he gently turned Pixie on her front, repeating the same process, watching as Pixie's eyes fluttered shut with pleasure as she felt her aching muscles become relaxed again. Once he was done, Tig wiped his hands down on his sweatpants before he gave Pixie a "happy ending" to her massage.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	62. Author's Note!

**You guys are the best! Thank you so much to everyone who's read, left kudos and commented on my book. You guys are so sweet!**


	63. New Day

**(Following chapters are loosely based off of "The Pull" Episode.)**

Tig woke up to the first rays of sunlight filtering through the curtains in the bedroom. He was laying on his side with his arms and legs wrapped around Pixie, who was still very much asleep, tucked up against him. She was on her side and had her bare back to him and he could just see her tally mark tattoos peeking out from under the duvet. Tig smiled to himself as he watched Pixie's peaceful breathing, she was so sweet like this and it made him extremely happy to wake up and have Pixie in his bed, it almost didn't feel real. He thought back over the night, how fun it had been to spend the evening with her, though the fact that Pixie had fallen on the stairs worried him. He thought over how many steps he actually had in this house. There was one at the front door, one at the backdoor, the door to the garage from the den also had a step and then the main staircase was a hazard too. There was also the worry of Pixie slipping in the showers. What if she was home alone, and decided to have a wash, then slipped over and hurt herself? Tig hugged Pixie to him protectively and decided something had to be done. He reached over and grabbed his phone from the nightstand and texted Opie, then Chibs and lastly Juice, voicing his concern and hoping they'd want to help, which they did, all three of them texting back within a minute. Once Tig's plan was in place, he set his phone down, accidentally jostling Pixie in the process, waking her up. She rolled over, her sleepy hazel eyes opening properly, as soon as she saw who she was with, her face lit up like a kid seeing Disneyland for the first time and she snuggled closer to him, kissing Tig's jaw.

"Mornin' baby, you seem happy to see me." Tig cooed, kissing her back.

"Mmhm, I like waking up next to you, I love you." Pixie said sleepily with a little yawn.

"Me too, I love you too, angel." Tig chuckled. "You want tea?"

Pixie's head jerked up to look at him. "You have tea?"  
"Yeah, I'd say I bought it specially, but it was more like Chibs threw the box at my head and told me to keep it for when you came over." Tig chuckled.

Pixie giggled. "He's a good dad, you should try some tea."  
"I'm sticking to coffee, but I will make you a cup of tea seeing as Chibs also put the instructions on a sticky note on the box." Tig grinned, kissing Pixie's cheek and sitting up with a grunt and a stretch, gently patting Pixie's backside.

"You sound stiff." Pixie rolled over and sat up, wrigging to kneel behind Tig and gently massaged his shoulders.

Tig hummed in pleasure and tipped his head back. "Years of old injuries." Tig explained. "That's amazing, baby." He crooned, feeling the stiffness and the slight ache in his shoulders leaving his body.

"My brave man." Pixie kissed his shoulder. "I'm glad this helps, I don't want you hurting."

"Speaking of, how are you feeling, angel?" Tig looked over his shoulder at Pixie.

"Really good, actually. My lip stings a little, and my right hand is stiff but usable. My bruises aren't as bad either, you did a real good job taking care of me, you're the best, Tiggy." Pixie answered, catching his lips in a kiss. "I wanna take care of you today."

Tig smiled, his heart warming at the prospect that someone wanted to look after him. "Nah, you're the best, baby girl." Tig reached behind him and pulled Pixie around to his front and laying her down on her back on his lap so he could cradle her. "Today's gonna be busy, we still have thirty k to raise for the Irish and I think things are gonna be tense with Clay and Jax again." Tig explained.

"The Irish?" Pixie asked him and Tig's heart stuttered.

"Yeah, McKeevy." Tig covered.

"You're not telling me the full truth." Pixie said quietly, studying his face. "Tiggy, tell me. Please don't try and lie to me again." she reached up to stroke his cheek. "I'm not mad, but I need to know."

Tig stared down at her, watching as Pixie's face went from relaxed and happy to tense and slightly fearful. He had to come clean. "I'm sorry baby, everyone panicked and nobody wanted to tell you, especially after hearing about your traumas."

Pixie paled a little. "McKeevy's IRA?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. We didn't know how to break it to you without hurting you, 'coz everyone at this club loves you and we all want to protect you." Tig explained, hugging Pixie closer to him.

Pixie was silent for a moment. "I kinda knew, I just didn't want to believe it." She murmured. "All the drums with the AKs in were so similar to the ones Highton had, especially with the Irish addresses on them."

"Smart girl." Tig nodded. "None of us knew how to break it to you."

"I get why you guys were trying to hide it, but one thing I've learnt, especially with all this shit with Lowell, is that the truth always needs to be heard. The longer it's hidden, the more the pain builds." Pixie explained to him, sitting up properly to look at Tig's face.

"I know, whilst you were out with Jax yesterday, Chibs pulled me to one side and voiced his concerns about all this, we wanted to tell you properly, but I guess I kinda fucked that up." Tig hung his head, he expected Pixie to leave his lap, throw something at him, yell and leave. She had a right to do so, considering everyone she trusted had hid this from her, but like usual, Pixie surprised him by wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek.

"You didn't fuck up, Tiggy, none of you did." She said gently, she took a deep breath in and out. "This is new territory for us all, and whilst I would've liked you all to be straight with me, I can't judge you guys and tell you what you should've done, because if I was in that situation and the roles were reversed, I can't say I wouldn't have done the same. I'd do anything to protect you guys." Pixie said softly, bringing Tig's head up so she could look him in the eye. "But I do want you to promise me that you're not gonna hide things from me in future. If we're going to make this relationship work, then it can't be built on a foundation of lies and half-truths, yeah?"

Tig nodded. "Absolutely, baby. I can't lose you." Tig confessed, he linked his pinky with Pixie's and squeezed. "I'll always be truthful with you."

Pixie nodded. "Thank you, and I promise to always be truthful with you, Tiggy. I can't lose you either, I love you so much. Even if the club gets us stuck in situations, we have to be honest, because secrets _will_ turn the club toxic." Pixie said firmly.

"I hear ya." Tig kissed her. "I'm still sorry for how things went down in the bathroom."

"Me too." Pixie confessed. "I only yelled 'coz I felt like you were mad at me, and I was stressed about Lowell, if we hadn't done what we did, I'm almost certain he would have relapsed and potentially OD-ed."

Tig felt his stomach drop as he thought back over their argument in the bathroom, how he'd raised his voice at the one person he adored and never wanted to hurt. "I know, you were right to do what you did, it shows how big of a heart you have, doll." Tig nuzzled her. "I'm sorry for yelling, I felt put on the spot, and got defensive, I get loud when I feel like I'm losing control."

"I figured that, I know you'd never intentionally hurt me, and I'm sorry for putting you in that position. I love you."  
"I love you too." Tig grinned, glad things had finally been aired out. "So what will you do about the fact that the others didn't tell you about the IRA?"

"I'll let them know, I know now, and that they can't hide things from me or each other anymore. I'm not mad, but I am a little scared about the fact that my family's involved in this again, I don't want a repeat of events, or a visit from Jimmy." Pixie's eyes took on a haunted look and Tig stroked her face, pulling her close.

"I promise you, babe, I won't let _anyone_ harm you and we'll keep you safe no matter what. We're dealing with different people and keeping away from Jimmy due to Chibs' past with him, but if there is any sign of him making his way over here, he's going to seriously regret it." Tig growled, his eyes murderous as he thought about what Jimmy had done to Pixie and Chibs, and how he could potentially want Pixie dead.

"I trust you and the others, Tiggy. I'll always try and keep you guys safe too." Pixie promised. "Wow, things got serious real fast." Pixie giggled. "Let's just focus on today, and getting up and ready now, I think we've said all we need to."  
Tig nodded, glad it was all out of the way. "I like that idea." Tig kissed Pixie's cheek and then grinned, lunging forward and pinning Pixie under him as he kissed all over her face and tickled her as Tig found that this was the fastest way to cheer Pixie up. They laughed and rolled around together before Tig tucked Pixie under him, nuzzling her jaw and smiling at Pixie's happy face.

"How 'bout I go make us drink, huh?"

Pixie grinned. "Thought that's what you were gonna do before." She teased him, running her fingers through his curls.

Tig narrowed his eyes playfully. "I was, but a certain lil missus decided to distract me." He argued back, moving down to kiss and blow a raspberry on Pixie's stomach so he could hear her squeal.

"Go make the drinks." Pixie giggled, trying to push him off as the pair laughed together.

Tig flopped down on top of her, pinning her with his weight for a second before propping himself up on his forearms as Pixie squealed and wriggled under him. "No climbing whilst I'm gone, I can tell what mood you're in, princess." Tig cooed, stroking Pixie's face. "Yeah?"  
"Yeah, I swear." Pixie grinned.

Tig growled playfully and nibbled her ear. "Swearing don't mean shit, baby, promise me."

Pixie stuck her tongue out at him. "No thanks."

Tig chuckled and growled before tickling her until Pixie was hiccuping. C'mon, say you promise." He teased until Pixie finally gave in.

"IpromiseIpromise!" Pixie blurted out in a jumble in between gasps.

"Good girl." Tig grinned, he kissed her before getting up from the bed. Pixie watched him go, seeing the smug smirk on his face and decided that mischief was on the cards for this morning. She darted across the room and pulled the ensuite sliding door shut, and then hopped back over to the bed, crawling under it where the duvet was touching the floor. She heard Tig's methodical steps up the stairs and bit her lip, suppressing a giggle as he came into the room.

"Babe?" He called out, seeing the bed empty. Pixie didn't answer, instead waiting for him to walk to the bedside table and place the cups down. Once she'd heard the cups touch the coasters, and saw Tig's shadow take a step away from the table, she crawled closer to the edge and then shot her arm out, grabbing Tig's ankle.

" _Shit_." Tig yelped as he felt the little hand grab his ankle and he jumped back. He heard Pixie's giggle from under the bed and realised what she was up to. He grabbed Pixie's wrist and pulled her out from under the bed.

"Got you!" Pixie cheered, then squeaked as Tig pounced on her.

"You." Tig growled, flipping Pixie onto her stomach. "Are in so much trouble!" He finished, he spanked her three times before he couldn't hold off the chuckle in his throat and started laughing, kissing and biting up Pixie's back.

"You said not to climb _on_ the bed, but you didn't say anything about climbing _under_ the bed." Pixie giggled as she rolled onto her back so she could see Tig's face.

"You're so pedantic." Tig laughed.

"Did I spook you badly?" Pixie asked tousling Tig's hair as he kissed his way up her chest.

"No, it'll take a lot more than hiding under the bed to scare me properly, but you did give my heart more of a kick than my coffee would've done." Tig grinned. "It was mainly the unexpectedness of it, and the fact you have tiny hands, so my head went to a creepy doll under the bed, rather than a naughty girlfriend under the bed." Tig explained as he kissed up Pixie's neck to her cheek.

"Why a creepy doll?" Pixie asked with a giggle, brow furrowed.

"Because I fucking hate dolls, they scare the absolute shit out of me." Tig confessed with a huff.

"Really? Big bad biker Tig is scared of 'Tiny Tears'?" Pixie asked for clarification.

"Don't rub it in." Tig grunted, sitting up like he was a little embarrassed.

"I'm not, just trying to wrap my head around it." Pixie assured him, sitting up. "But...wait, you call me 'doll'."

Tig chuckled. "Yeah, I call most women 'doll', it's a term of endearment thing, like 'honey' or 'sugar'."  
"But if you're scared of dolls, why use that phrase?" Pixie asked as she hopped onto the bed to grab her tea, taking a tentative sip and being surprised that Tig had got it right. "Good tea by the way."  
"Thanks." Tig grinned, glad he'd got Pixie's drink right, he got up and sat down next to Pixie. "And I dunno, it worked its way into my vocab when I was teen, maybe it's irony, I dunno." Tig shrugged. "Too early for deep thinking." He took a sip of his coffee. Now you know my biggest fear, what's yours?"  
Pixie wrinkled up her nose. "I have a few."  
"Yeah?" Tig raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I hate slugs. I'm fine with literally every other insect, I'll happily touch spiders and snails and worms, but slugs? Hell no, I'm out, I once scaled a chain link fence because one of the other Highton Sons threw one at me." Pixie grumbled.

Tig chuckled. "Poor baby, how come you like snails though? Snails are the same as slugs."  
Pixie shook her head. "Snails have little houses on their backs that you can pick them up with if you need to to get them out the way, so you avoid being slimed. So they're better."  
"Ah I see." Tig chuckled. "So it's the slug slime you're afraid of?"

" _EW_!" Pixie squeaked. "Please don't say 'slug slime' whilst I'm trying to drink my tea." Pixie shuddered.

Tig laughed and set his cup down. "Sorry doll."

"And yeah, I think it is, but I only have to look at one and I need to leave the vicinity."

"What else don't you like?"  
"Rope around my hands for obvious reasons, fireworks, tyre screeches and tomatoes." Pixie listed.

"I get the others." Tig nodded. "But tomatoes?"

"Yeah, they're mushy and slimy and I hate those little seeds. I can handle ketchup and tomato puree, as long as there's no lumps of tomato in, otherwise I can't eat or touch it."

"Can you touch regular tomatoes?"  
Pixie shook her head. "Nope, it makes me jumpy, like the slugs."

Tig laughed at Pixie's bizarre phobia. "Poor baby. I take it your cooking doesn't involve them?"

"Nope, unless it's a sauce then I can't handle it."

"You're so silly." Tig grinned.

"Says the guy with the 'Chucky' phobia." Pixie pouted, passing her mug to Tig to put on the side.

"Hey, I'm just teasing." Tig cooed, pulling Pixie into his lap. "I promise I'll deal with any tomatoes that get in your way."

"My hero." Pixie said sarcastically with a giggle. "We should get ready for the day, you said it was gonna be a busy one."

Tig sighed. "Yeah, I kinda wanna lock all the doors and stay put though."

Pixie giggled. "I think we'd last an hour before the others knocked the doors down."

Tig smiled. "Yeah, c'mon then, let's go shower." Tig stood up, carrying Pixie bridal style into the ensuite bathroom.

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie put her unruly hair into a ponytail before getting dressed in the bedroom, opting for a baggy pink and purple acid washed t-shirt dress with moons and stars on, black leggings with punky rips down the legs, her purple Doc Martens, black heart choker and earring studs. The look was casual but girly and Pixie checked over her outfit before exiting the bathroom. 

Tig had disappeared downstairs after getting washed and having a quick make-out session in the shower, saying something about wood and Opie, but Pixie didn't quite catch it as she'd still been standing under the strong jet of water. Pixie could hear voices downstairs and just as she went to the bedroom door, the sound of an electric drill cut through the morning lull and Pixie froze, confused as to what could possibly be going on. She stepped out into the upstairs hallway and approached the head of the staircase, finding Tig and Opie. Opie was holding onto a bannister rail whilst Tig drilled the metal supports into the wall.

"Uh, guys?" Pixie called over the noise, both men looking up and smiling as they caught sight of Pixie.  
"Lookin' good, baby." Tig greeted.

"Hey Pix, you doin' okay?" Opie asked.

"Yeah, much better, thanks, when did you get here?" She responded, blowing Tig a kiss.

"'Bout an hour ago, did Tig not tell you?"

"Apparently not." Pixie giggled. "Tiggy?"  
"I got thinking this morning and last night about how I wanna make this house as safe as possible for you, especially as I have so many steps and places where you can't hold onto things if you aren't wearing your prosthetic." Tig elaborated. "Chibs and Juice are outside drilling a metal rail to the wall next to the back door, then we're gonna put another in for the front and then the garage step to the den."

"Tiggy! You didn't have to do all this for me." Pixie squeaked as her heart melted.

"Course I did, seeing you fall was scary enough, and I wanna make sure that you can get around this house easier."

"You're such a sweet guy." Pixie smiled. "You too, Ope, you didn't have to come do this either."

"I wanted to, you helped clear out my shed, so I'm paying back the favour, and I want you to be safe too." Opie explained, reaching across to pat Pixie's knee as she sat down on the top step. She helped hold the rail steady as Tig put in the last of the screws, then watched as Opie put his full weight on it, then tugged it a good number of times to check it was safe and secure and Pixie would be able to use it. Once they were done, the three of them clattered down the stairs and went to the kitchen, just as Chibs and Juice came in through the back door at the far end of the kitchen.

"Mornin' lassie." Chibs' face lit up as he caught sight of her, and eagerly grabbed her when Pixie jumped up at him for a hug.

"Hi Chibbie!" Pixie responded as she breathed in his comforting Irish soap and cigarette scent. She let go of him and Juice wrapped his arms around Pixie's waist to swing her around before he set her down and put an arm around her. "Good to see you, J." Pixie grinned.

"You too, you look a lot better, though your hand's still bandaged." Juice noted, gently holding Pixie's right hand.

"Yeah, I can use it today, just not particularly well. It's still a little sore, but the swelling's down." Pixie explained as Chibs came to have a look. Pixie looked over at Tig. "Hey, you got flour?"

"Yeah, why?"

"How 'bout I make you guys pancakes as thanks for looking after me?"  
At the mention of food, all four guys nodded and agreed eagerly, making Pixie giggle as she went to investigate the cupboards. Tig helped find her all the items she needed, as well as extra eggs, bacon and cereal so they could have a breakfast feast. Pixie set to work and Juice came to lend a hand, mixing the batter whilst Pixie heated up the frying pan.

"You have any idea how we're gonna raise the rest of the money?" Pixie asked.

Juice shook his head. "Nope. I'm hoping Chibs and Jax come up with something, they're usually the best at thinking on their feet, other than you."  
"Thanks, I have no clue how to raise thirty thousand though." Pixie giggled as she flipped the first pancake. "Sure we can't sell stuff or call in loans off of other MC's, I mean the Mayans are a no-go, but isn't there another gang around here?"

"You mean the One-Niners?" Juice asked.

"Yeah, that's the name, how friendly are we with them?"  
"They're based in Oakland, and so far we've had somewhat of an alliance selling them guns, but after the whole thing with the survivalists shooting the cop, they won't touch our supply."  
"Well that sucks." Pixie said as she put the pancake on a plate and Juice passed her the bowl of batter.

"Yup." Juice nodded, pouring batter into his frying pan. "Your charter smuggled medical supplies, right?"  
"Yeah, we made huge bank doing that, we also dealt with buying and selling parts for cars, we had a paint-balling shack and a boxing class." Pixie recalled. "To get the spare parts business started off, we used to take pieces off of cars of rich people or people that weren't in the club's good books, then if they came to the garage, asking for help because their car needed a part, we'd reinstall the same part and charge them for it."

Juice laughed. "That's so sneaky! What happened if they didn't come to you for the part?"  
"Then we sold that to someone who needed it. We made money either way." Pixie grinned. "We could always go poke holes in the ATF's rental cars and wait for them to come get tyres from us."

Juice shook his head. "No way, kiddo. Last thing we want is ATF having a reason to come snooping."  
"Yeah true, though it would be nice to see that smirk wiped off of Agent Stahl's face."

"When did you meet her?"  
"Helping Lowell at the PD when he was questioned about his dad."  
"That was really good of you." Juice grinned, giving Pixie a hip bump, which she returned. The two of them messed about and made breakfast, then called in the others when it was ready. Pixie sat cross legged on the island with Juice seeing as there were only three chairs in the kitchen and the others were all taller and would need to stretch their legs out.

"Fucking good." Tig grunted as he swallowed his mouthful of crispy bacon and pancake.

"Thanks." Juice and Pixie chimed together, they looked at each other at the same time, both with almost identical amused expressions. "Jinx." They said together again, making the others laugh. "Stop. You stop!" They carried on.

"Both of ye stop talking." Chibs called over. "Yer like those fecking twins from tha "Shining"." He chuckled.

Pixie and Juice both got the reference and grinned at each other before looking at Chibs. "Come play with us, Chibbie." They managed to say in time together, giving each other a hi-five.

"You guys have been spending way too much time together." Opie laughed.

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	64. Money Matters

**WARNING: BLOOD & GORE**

Pixie, Tig, Juice and Chibs pulled into the lot after seeing Opie off at his shift down at the Lumber Yard. They switched off their bikes and Pixie texted Lowell to say she was on-site if he needed anything before she headed inside. Bobby and Clay were waiting for them at the bar with Jax and the three guys cheered as Pixie walked through the door.

"There's the champ, how you feeling, miss fifty k?" Bobby grinned, gently patting her on the shoulder.

"Pretty good, thanks." Pixie grinned. "You doing okay today, Presley?"  
"Fine and dandy." Bobby chuckled.

"We need to head into church to discuss how we're gettin the rest of the cash." Clay announced.

"Am I okay to come listen?" Pixie asked. "I wanna help, plus I know how to deal with the Irish." There was a heavy pause as the others looked like children caught red handed. "Seriously, you guys thought you'd be able to hide the fact you're dealing with the IRA for this long?" Pixie raised an eyebrow.

"How'd ye find out?" Chibs asked.

"Tig." Pixie answered.

"By accident!" Tig added hastily as Chibs stared daggers at him.

"And also the Irish addresses on the AK barrels were a pretty big giveaway. I'm not happy about the fact I was lied to, or that the clubs involved with IRA associates, but I get why you guys did it, and it isn't exactly my place to frown upon club deals." Pixie continued. "So unless you want this place to get lit up like New Years day, you need to get the other thirty k together, plus the added interest to keep the Irish happy, and I wanna help with that."

There was another pause until Jax decided to jump in. "Well a'ight, let's go." He got up and put an arm around Pixie's shoulders, which seemed to galvanise the other men who got up and followed. They got into the church and took their seats, Pixie sitting down in between Chibs and Tig again.

"So, we pulled together one hundred and twenty k, and Pixie got us fifty, so all we need now is thirty and that should meet McKeevy's demand." Clay reminded everyone, so they were all on the same page.

"Here's five K for the gig I did in Loughlin." Bobby nodded, putting the money down next to the leather bag on the table. "Put that in the pot."

"Twenty-five K." Clay nodded.

"McKeevy needs his cash by tomorro' night, that's as far as I could push tha' deadline, but Pixie's right, he'll be expecting interest for the delay and trouble."

"I'd add another twenty K to the twenty-five. He'll bullshit and say petrol costs and whatever, that's what happened at Highton certainly."

"Aye." Chibs nodded.

"So the bastards want forty-five K?" Clay asked.

"That's what you get for dealing with these types of people." Pixie shrugged.

"Well there's one person we could ask." Clay thought aloud. "The Porn Queen."

"Otto's old lady?" Tig asked, leaning closer to the table.

"Gemma says Luann's picking up two G's a week from ad revenue from her website."

"Yeah. Factor in membership fees and downloads, she's making three times that much." Juice nodded.

"You should have Gemma talk to Luann. They're tight, keep us out of it." Jax nodded. He caught Pixie's scrunched up face. "What?"

"This is kinda our shit to deal with, plus Luann's got enough on her plate trying to compete with her rival porn guy."

"And you know this how?" Jax asked.

"Luann and I were chatting at the fundraiser." Pixie explained. "As much as I know we need the money, I just think borrowing from Luann to save our asses is gonna cause us more issues down the line. Yeah, she's tight with Gemma and the club, but there are other ways to get the cash without causing hurt feelings and dragging innocents into this."

"So what do you suggest, miss moral compass?" Clay grunted.

"We take a step away from the table and breathe, we start pressurising ourselves to get the money, we do stupid shit we regret. We have over twenty-four hours to find forty-five k, we got this." Pixie encouraged.

"Pixie's right." Jax nodded. "This club's been through so much shit, forty-five K ain't gonna cripple us. Besides, I gotta go up to St Thomas anyways." He grinned. "Kid gets out of the toaster today."

"You get to hold your son?" Tig asked grinning as the others clamoured with words of congratulations, fist-bumping and patting him on the back.

"At least we know one good thing's happening today, huh?" Clay grinned around his fat cigar. "Okay, we break it up, everyone pan out and get thinking, we'll meet back here this afternoon and see if we've pulled anything. If not, we're talking to the Porn Queen." Clay said, staring Pixie down firmly.

"A'ight." Jax nodded and everyone got up. As they filtered out, Pixie grabbed Jax's arm. "You okay, Pipsqueak?" Jax grinned, turning to face her.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about the whole Gemma situation, and I wanna try and bury that hatchet, y'know before she throws a hatchet at me." Pixie explained.

Jax chuckled. "Oh yeah? What's sparked this?"

"Cherry managed to get on Gemma's good side, and I realised there might actually be hope for me, especially as we made progress at the fundraiser, we bonded over burying bodies."

"...Do I need to know?" Jax raised an eyebrow.

"No, don't worry, but if your mum's rose garden suddenly starts looking real good, you'll know why." Pixie giggled. "Anyway, I was thinking I could do a sketch of you, Abel, Clay and her together, all I need is pictures of all four of you, and I can just put it all together that way." Pixie explained.

Jax smiled. "She'd love that, she's always harping on about how she wants one nice picture of her boys, so that'd be a really sweet gesture."

"Thanks, I'm glad." Pixie smiled. "We've got mugshots of you and Clay on the wall I can use for reference, and the photo of everyone Chibs gave me, but I don't have a picture of Gemma or Abel. Juice gave me a camera, so if you wanted you could take the photo of Abel and give it back when you're free?"  
Jax considered it. "How 'bout you come up with me? I bet Abel's tired of just hearing me and Gem, I think he'd like that. Clay keeps a photo of Gemma in his desk drawer in the garage, we can get that when we get back."

Pixie's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah, you wanna go see Abel now?"  
"Sure, lemme tell the others." Pixie said happily as they began walking into the main area. Tig stood up from the sofa when he spotted Pixie and Jax together and came over to see what they were up to.

"I know that face, angel, what're you up to?" Tig teased seeing Pixie's glittering eyes.

"Nothing bad, tough guy." Pixie reached up and kissed his cheek.

"Pix wants to give a peace offering to Gemma, she's gonna do a sketch of me, Gem, Clay and Abel." Jax explained.

Tig smiled. "That's really cute, proud of you, baby. You showed Jax your other drawings?"

"No, not yet, do you wanna see?" Pixie asked, looking to Jax.

"Yeah, sure." Jax nodded, Pixie got her bag from where she'd left it on the couch and rooted through it, pulling out her sketchbook. Juice, Chibs and Bobby came over to where she put it on the bar, eager to see what Pixie was up to. Once everyone was crowded round, Pixie showed them the concept artwork for her tattoos and some of the other little doodles she'd done whenever she'd had a moment spare.

"Hap said you were good, didn't know you were _that_ good!" Juice exclaimed, looking at Pixie's reaper artwork.

"Thanks, J." Pixie smiled. "If you guys ever want drawings or tattoo designs, lemme know, I know you have Hap, but it might be cool to see what we both come up with." Pixie said feeling a little shy from all the attention.

"Absolutely." Bobby nodded.

His voice reminded Pixie of something and she leant forwards, turning the pages to the back where she did little doodles, she found the page she was looking for and slid it across to Bobby. "I actually did this for you, Bobs, when I had a spare minute yesterday." Pixie told him. 

She showed him the design of a guitar neck busting out of some cracks with a viper snake wrapped around it with its fangs bared. There were two roses either side of the neck and Pixie had written "Rock & Roll" in tattoo style lettering in a fabric banner across the bottom. Bobby's eyebrows raised when he saw the design, and Pixie nervously fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "It was just a little something I thought of, you have your skull-snakey-thing on your arm and I wanted to keep the snake theme you have going on, and then the guitar because of the whole Elvis thing, and you play really good." Pixie explained.

Bobby looked up from the design. "I love this so much, c'mere." He grinned pulling her in for a tight hug. Pixie let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad you like it." Pixie smiled, she carefully tore out the page and passed it to him. "Keep it, it's for you."

Bobby folded the page carefully and tucked it into his shirt pocket. "Thanks, little lady."

"No worries." Pixie smiled, she looked up at Jax who motioned for the exit. "Okay, Jax and I are gonna head off to St Thomas, so see you guys later." Pixie said, giving everyone quick hugs before running after Jax as she put her bag on. They pulled out of the lot and Jax led the way to the hospital with Pixie riding alongside. Jax noted the way Pixie fidgeted a little on her bike, she'd go from sitting to straightening her legs slightly like you'd do if you were standing and pedalling on a bicycle. He chalked it down to her ADHD and the fact that they were riding through the heart of Charming and Pixie couldn't do her stunts safely.

When they reached the hospital and parked up, Pixie took off her helmet and put it on the handlebars. "How did your talk with Tara go?" She asked as Jax stood up from his bike.

"It was tense, she was really relieved that Kohn was gone, and I asked her straight if she came back so I'd get rid of her problem."

"And?"

"She looked me in the eyes and lied. I saw it on her face, I think she forgot that I know her too well for that. I called her on it and told her I was happy to be her friend, but anything more had to stop."

Pixie nodded. "How'd she take that?" She asked as they walked through the entrance.

"Surprisingly well, no tears or slaps. She just nodded and went inside."

"You were expecting to be slapped?"

"Well yeah, when we broke up the first time around she slapped real hard."  
Pixie raised an eyebrow. "And you didn't see that as a big red flag?"

"Well I do now you're looking at me like that." Jax grunted. "It was just a chick slap. Isn't that what most girls do in arguments."  
"No?" Pixie grabbed Jax's arm to stop him from walking. "Jax, chick slap or not, that's still physical contact that was uncalled for, especially if it's in a relationship. You should never raise a hand to another person you care about, and they shouldn't do that to you either. Arguments should only be vocal, Jax."  
Jax blinked a few times like he was trying to understand Pixie. "You ever slapped Tig?"

"No, absolutely not! Even when we had the argument in the bathroom, yeah we raised our voices, but neither of us laid a hand on the other in anger. That's the way it should be and we talked about it and apologised afterwards."  
Jax nodded slowly. "Huh."

"What kinda psycho women have you been sleeping with, Teller? Goddamn." Pixie laughed in disbelief.

"The wrong kind, apparently." Jax chuckled as they started walking to the elevator. "Think I need a break with women."

"Yeah, focus on your son first." Pixie agreed.

Jax sighed as he pressed the button. "I never expected to be a single parent, still don't, Abel deserves a mom."

"Abel already has a loving family who will protect and care for him, not matter what. I was the kid of a single parent and I turned out okay."

"You're a tiny knife-wielding maniac." Jax laughed, nudging Pixie in the ribs.

"I'm taking that as a compliment." Pixie giggled. "Hap calls me 'Little Maniac'."

"I've known that guy for years, never seen him laugh or smile as much as he does when he's around you, it's like you unlocked the human side of him."

"All I did was show him compassion and friendliness." Pixie shrugged.

"Don't sell yourself so short."

"I am short." Pixie giggled making Jax snort as they walked out onto the neonatal ward. They found the room with Abel in it and spotted Gemma through the glass, she looked unhappy and a little pissed off. "What's up with Gem?"

"We had an argument last night, lemme talk to her, then I'll get you when she's calmer, a'ight?"  
"Yeah, hope everything's okay." Pixie bit her lip as Jax patted her on the back and went inside.

Pixie looked up from her sketchbook as Jax opened the door beckoned Pixie in.

"What's she doin' here?"

"I wanted a picture of Abel for his baby book thing you got, and Pixie had a camera."  
"Couldn't you have just borrowed the camera?" Gemma asked as she picked up her handbag off the floor.

"I could've, but I wanted Pixie to get to know Abel better, seeing as she was a preemie baby herself, and she babysits."  
"We have Anita." Gemma huffed.

Pixie spoke up a little. "I know, and I never wanted to overstep or anything, Jax invited, so I came."

"Hm." Gemma said. "I'll head out and talk to Luann, see if she's even in the area." Gemma said, giving Jax a kiss on the cheek before leaving. As soon as the door shut Jax looked over at Pixie with a grin.

"Ooooh, she does not like you. _Damn_."

"I know, I don't understand what I did." Pixie chuckled. "I mean we had arguments, but for the most part, I tried to defend myself and not stoop to the levels she was."

"Yeah, probably just a Gemma thing, I dunno." Jax shrugged. He looked down at Abel with a soft smile. "He's getting bigger every time I see him.

Pixie smiled at the chubby little baby in the incubator. "That's a really good sign, he's come a long way since I last saw him. Told you he's a fighter."

"Yeah, a true Teller." Jax nodded. Pixie got out her camera and took a photo of the way Jax was looking at Abel. It was such a sweet, gentle smile, full of love for the little guy he had yet to hold. "You taking one of me?"  
"Yeah, first time I've actually seen you be mushy, you let your bravado slip, and that's real nice to see. You're gonna make a good dad."

Jax shuffled. "You think?"  
"I know." Pixie nodded. "It's gonna be tough as hell, and Abel's gonna test you every step of the way, but I know you're gonna protect and love him, I can see it on your face already."

"Thanks, Pix." Jax said sitting down in the chair. "I'm thirty, and almost every guy I went to school with has a kid now, I mean Ope has two, but I'm not even sure if I'm ready."

Pixie knelt down in front of him. "You are, bud. That panic and nervousness that you're feeling about taking care of Abel is a good thing. It shows you're wanting to take precaution and keep him safe. You want the best for him, and I know that having you as his dad is the best thing for him. I'd be more concerned if you were laid back and chill about it."

"Yeah?" Jax asked.

"Promise." Pixie nodded. "You're gonna be fine, and if you need anything, call me, I know how to handle babies."

"Pixie the baby whisperer." Jax grinned, giving Pixie's shoulder a little shove. "But thanks, that means a lot, and I know you'd keep him safe from anything."

☠️☠️☠️

After spending some time with Abel and getting a couple of good photographs, Jax and Pixie decided to head back, instead of going back through Charming, Jax took her onto some of the back roads where there was little to no traffic and they raced each other. Pixie did some stunts, weaving around Jax to make him laugh and then stood up on her bike before sitting down again as they got to a corner. They rode alongside each other as they got to an open stretch of road where they could see a tanker which was stopped in the middle of their lane, just before a bend. Jax stood up for a second to get a better look before looking over at Pixie and raising an eyebrow, both of them feeling uneasy as they accelerated towards it. As they pulled up, they saw two women pointing towards the cab and panicking on their phones to the emergency services. Pixie quickly spotted why as the driver's door was open, the windscreen was busted through and the driver was laying on the truck's hood in a pool of his own blood and wasn't moving.

"Oh shit!" Jax cursed as he and Pixie pulled their bikes to a stop and jumped up onto the cab to help. "C'mon man! Get up on the hood!" Jax yelled to another man who'd pulled up to see what the issue was. Pixie scrambled out onto the bonnet and checked the guy's pulse, and his head and neck for any breaks.

"He's breathing but unconscious, his neck's intact." Pixie called to Jax. she spotted the glass spearing the guy's legs. "Don't take the glass out of his legs, its deep, so it could be the only thing stopping this guy from bleedin' out." Pixie urged.

"The glass is attached to the windscreen." Jax called back. "It's cracked though." he grabbed his knife and used the blade to stab at the crack to break the glass in two. It worked and Pixie edged back just as the ambulance arrived, siren's blaring. She grabbed the guy under the shoulders as Jax lifted his legs and they slid him forward and towards the EMT's and the male stranger who came to help. Pixie's T-shirt was blood-soaked from where she'd held the guy's torso against hers, and her bandage was now red too. As soon as the EMT's grabbed the driver, he jolted awake, screaming and panicking as they lowered him onto a stretcher. Pixie jumped off the hood and came to the guy's side, holding the hand he was waving.

"Hey, it's alright, sir, you're safe now, okay? We're here to help." Pixie soothed, stroking his hand and standing a little to the side so he could see her face. He stilled long enough for the EMT's to brace him and start preparing him for putting him in the ambulance.

The guy clutched onto her hand, almost crushing it as he fearfully looked into her eyes. "No-Nor..."

Pixie leaned closer. "It's okay, I can help you." The guy saw her kutte and his eyes went wide. "I'm a Son, I won't hurt you." She said gently.

"Nordics." He whispered before his hand went slack in hers. The EMT's moved Pixie back as they bundled the guy into the ambulance, Pixie watched him go, then looked over to where Jax was standing next to the cab and she walked over to him.

"You good?" She asked.

"Yeah, glass didn't get me. You're covered in blood." Jax assessed her as Pixie stepped forward to him.

"The guy said 'Nordics' when he saw my kutte." Pixie said quietly.

Jax raised an eyebrow and pulled a baggy out of his pocket, showing it to Pixie. "Found this too. Meth."

"Nords sell drugs?"

"Yeah. Meth is Nords territory."

"Well, shit." Pixie hissed. The pair of them got on their bikes, wiping their hands on their jeans as best they could before riding fast to the clubhouse to let the other Sons know what they'd just stumbled across, knowing it had to be more than just a little highway bust up.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	65. Truck Troubles

**WARNING: BLOOD & GORE**

Pixie and Jax pulled in and got the attention of Chibs, Opie and Tig who were smoking outside.

"Jesus!" Tig exclaimed, throwing his cigarette down as Pixie stood up from her bike and took her helmet off, she had blood streaks all over her arms, her t-shirt was caked with blood and her bandage was a dark red. "Babe!"

"It's not mine, don't worry." Pixie said as she and Jax came over. The others noted Jax's hands which were caked with dried blood and the streaks on his shirt and jeans.

"Tha' two 'o' ye were only gone fer two hours, how the feck did ye manage this?!" Chibs exclaimed.

"What the fuck happened?" Opie added. Hearing the commotion, Juice and Clay came rushing out the clubhouse.

"We ran into some trouble one one of the back roads, dude in a tanker truck was attacked and abandoned at the scene, Pixie and I helped get him off the hood." Jax explained, going into further detail as they headed inside and he began washing his hands in the sink at the bar, taking off his shirt too. "The guy said 'Nordics' to Pixie and I found a baggie of meth in the foot well of the cab." Jax took the baggy out of his jeans and tossed it onto the counter.

"You said it was a tanker?" Tig asked, when Pixie nodded, he continued. "Darby runs his meth lab out of Diesel yard in Pope." Tig explained, watching as Juice started wiping Pixie's arms down with wet wipes, nose wrinkled in slight panic for his sister and the mess.

"It's where all the mill drivers score their crank." Opie added, taking a drag of his cigarette. Juice put the wipes down for a second and examined the baggy when he spotted it on the bar top.

"This is definitely Darby's shit." He nodded. "This rock's been stepped on so many times it's barely a narcotic." Juice dropped the baggy on the counter again in disgust, then went back to cleaning up Pixie's arms and hands. Pixie let him, knowing this was his way of calming himself down and showing he cared.

Tig shook his head and growled. "See, Darby's making his move into Charming, dealing at that lumber mill." Tig looked over at Pixie for a moment before he smacked his hand down on the bar. "Clay, we gotta send this Nazi asshole a clear message. _Now_." Tig growled out, he thought about the trouble the Nords could cause if they breached the Charming boundary, and the potential threat they could pose to Pixie, Juice and all of the other minorities living there.

"A'ight." Jax said sharply before Tig lost it. "How 'bout we just go talk to the driver, confirm where he got the meth?" Jax offered.

Clay considered it. "Go." He nodded.

"Might wanna go change first, don't think the guy'll appreciate two people coming in looking like extras from 'Shaun of the Dead'." Pixie suggested, pointing to the blood on Jax's jeans and the fact that her shirt was soaked still.

Jax chuckled. "Yeah, true."

The two of the darted off to their respective dorms, coming out a minute later with a fresh change of clothes and bloody laundry for the hamper. Pixie had opted for a black and white striped set of skinny jeans, a loose fitting hot pink top with a graphic print of a pink ice cream cat and pink studded converse. Jax chuckled when he saw Pixie's shirt.

"Very cute." he commented as he pulled on his grey t-shirt. Jax's words had Tig looking up instantly and he came over to check on Pixie.

"I like it." Tig smiled. "Like you better though." He growled in Pixie's ear, arms wrapping around her middle, feeling a little jealous about Jax spending so much time with Pixie.

"Get a room." Jax joked, rolling his eyes. "Ope, you wanna come?"

"Sure." He nodded, stubbing his cigarette out into the ashtray.

Pixie moved past them to hug Chibs and Juice. "How're you guys doing? Could you re-wrap my hand, Chibbie?"

"Doin' jus' fine, mo ghràdh." Chibs smiled and nodded as he took the roll of bandaging and the scissors, getting to work right away. "Looks like you've landed yourself into more chaos today."  
"For once, it wasn't my fault either." Pixie smiled. "Hey, J, can you do me a favour and print off the photos on my camera, should be a couple of Abel and Jax."

"Sure, kiddo." Juice nodded, giving Pixie a hug. "You scared me covered in blood like that."  
"Sorry, bud." Pixie said into his shoulder. "I promise I'm doing okay, but I do need to talk to you." Pixie pulled away to eye Chibs. "Both of you, later. We need to talk about how you both hid the IRA shit from me."

Chibs nodded. "Aye, I'm sorry, love."

"S'okay, right now I've got more important things to deal with, so please look after yourselves, and I'll come back later, yeah?"  
"Yeah, go do your thing." Juice nodded. Pixie kissed Chibs and Juice on the cheek before moving away and almost bumped into Half-Sack as he came around the bar suddenly from where he'd been scrubbing down the surface. "Pix?"

"Yeah, H?"

"I tidied your room, by the way." He told her.

Pixie smiled, when she'd gone in there to change, someone had folded up the clothes, tidied away all the broken glass and had put things to rights. "That was you? Thank you so much, H." Pixie reached up and hugged him. "You're a good brother."

Half-Sack blushed a little. "Thanks."

Pixie darted out to where Opie and Jax were starting up their motorcycles. She got on hers, starting up the engine as she straightened her kutte and grabbed her helmet. "Let's hope we don't come across any more bloodbaths today."

"Amen to that." Opie chuckled as Pixie put her helmet on.

☠️☠️☠️

The three of them arrived at the hospital and went into the recent admissions ward, looking for any sign of the guy through the windows and doors. Just as they passed the elevator, two gnarly looking thugs with tattoos got into it, staring down Opie, Jax and Pixie as the doors closed, Pixie raised an eyebrow.

"Darby's guys." Jax growled. "Can't be good."

Opie grunted in response and carried on looking for a blood soaked guy matching the description of the one Jax and Pixie gave him. He spotted a guy that fit the description, pointing to the window, Pixie came to see and recognised it straight away.

"That's him." Pixie confirmed as Opie opened the door for her and Jax to go inside, following them in. Opie checked the medical charts, seeing the name "Andy Kreidman".

"Andy?" Opie asked, the driver opened his eyes and squirmed in pain. It looked as though the doctors had stitched up the deeper wounds and cleaned him up a little, but his face was still bloody and he looked like he was in large amounts of pain. "Who did this to you, Andy?" Opie asked gently as Pixie approached Andy's bedside.

"Nords." Andy whimpered.

"Why?" Jax asked gently with compassion on his face. Pixie tentatively reached for the guy's hand, stroking it and holding it to try and calm the guy like she'd done at the scene of the accident. He looked at her with recognition on his face and squeezed back grateful for the moral support.

"I was in way deep with Darby on my crank debts." Andy explained, guilt on his face. "Like two thousand seven hundred deep."

"Oof." Pixie put in.

"Where you buying?" Jax asked.

"Up in Pope." Andy answered, after a moment.

"Not in Charming?" JAx confirmed.

"Can't score shit in this town." Andy said fimly.

Jax nodded, satisfied, as Opie came a little closer. "Anybody you want us to call? Family or friends?"

"No." Andy whimpered. He looked up at Pixie like he was going to cry. "Oswald's gonna fire my ass when he finds that tanker empty, man." Andy writhed in panic and Pixie gently soothed him, stroking his hand. Opie and Jax exchanged a look at Andy's words.

"What're you talking about?" Jax asked, stepping closer.

"Well the Nords said that the diesel was payment for my crank debt." Andy said miserably. "So they came here, beat the shit out of me, and they took my keys."

Jax raised his eyebrows. "It was a full tanker?"

"Yeah. It's at the county impound off the 18." Andy explained.

☠️☠️☠️

Opie, Jax and Pixie raced down the roads towards the impound desperate to get there before the Nords got to it first. They rounded a bend and immediately stopped in their tracks, hidden behind shrubs as they spotted the two Nord thugs they'd seen at the hospital break the chains on the gate with bolt cutters and slip inside.

"Looks like we're in for a chase." Jax sighed. Pixie turned off the engine of her bike, putting it behind a bush.

"Need to ride behind one of you, I got this." Pixie said quickly as she pulled up her visor.

"What're you gonna do?" Jax asked.

"My job." Pixie answered as the truck pulled out. Jax shuffled forward on his seat and patted the space behind him. Pixie hopped on, wrapping her arms around him as best she could just as the truck pulled out.

"There goes our fifteen k." Jax called out, pointing to the truck as it swung out of the yard and accelerated down the road. Jax and Opie tailed it, picking up speed and catching up to the truck. As they got close to the cab, the Nords noticed them and began swinging, trying to knock Opie and Jax off of the road, Pixie grabbed Jax's shoulder as she crouched on the seat. As the truck swung over to Jax, Pixie jumped from the bike to the cab door, using the wing mirror bars to swing herself around, sliding through the windshield feet first where the glass had been removed fully after the truck had been impounded. She kicked the driver in the face and chest as she shot through the gap, landing on the truck seat bench before throwing herself across at the driver as the struggle ensued. Jax and Opie watched on as the truck began swerving erratically as Pixie fought with the thugs, knocking the driver's gun out of the windshield hole and smacking his head into the glass of the driver's door. The second thug tried to help as he got over his initial shock but got kicked by Pixie in the fight, smacking his head back on the hard cab interior, the force knocking him unconscious. Pixie shoved the driver sideways she heard the frantic honking of another driver and realised that the truck was sliding over into the oncoming traffic lane. There was a mad moment as the truck continued to slide until it was fully on the wrong side of the highway and both Pixie and the driver worked to stop the truck, slamming the brakes and grabbing the handbrake, both of them putting their fight on hold to make sure they didn't hit the oncoming car. The truck screeched to a stop with Jax barely stopping in time too. Before the Nord driver could react Pixie slammed his head into the steering wheel and the driver slumped over. Satisfied with her work, she crawled out of the cab onto the hood of the truck, taking off her helmet.

"What the hell, asshole?" The woman in the other car yelled as she jumped out, but stopped and backed away fearfully as she spotted Jax and Opie with their guns trained on both the Nords. She got in her car frantically, turned it around and sped away. Once the innocent was out of the way, Jax and Opie looked over to Pixie, both with shocked expressions.

"They're both unconscious." Pixie assured the guys.

"Jesus christ, that was insane!" Opie exclaimed, putting his gun away and holding his arms out as Pixie slid off the hood of the truck. Opie caught her and set her down on the ground.

"Told you Pixie's crazy." Jax grinned, putting his gun back too. "You a'ight?"

"Yeah, they didn't get me." Pixie assured him as she took a couple of breaths to calm her hammering heart and dispel the adrenaline in her body. "I got a little friction burn on my arm from sliding across the hot hood, and a couple of bruises but that's nothing." Pixie said pointing to the pink skid mark just below her left elbow.

"Crazy's an understatement." Opie laughed, relieved Pixie was okay. "I just thought you were gonna shoot the guys or do your knife tricks, not jump into the cab with them." He said with a laugh.

"I spotted the clear hole in the windshield when the truck pulled out and realised it was clear of glass. I've jumped onto the hoods of trucks before, so I knew what I needed to do, and how to do it." Pixie explained with a grin.

Jax chuckled. "Only you would have practice with something like that." He said shaking his head and grinning. "I say we dump the Nords out and then go hide the truck."

"I can drive it back to wherever, seeing as I'm not on my bike." Pixie offered.

"Yeah that's good, I'll text Juice to come get you from the safe spot and take you back to your bike, he's out on his shift with Sack." Jax explained. "Ope'll guard the truck whilst I go talk to Unser. Once you've got your bike, go back to the clubhouse and tell them Andy scored the meth in Pope." Jax instructed, feeling good that they'd managed to secure the truck without any deaths or bullets.

"Aye, aye, captain." Pixie nodded.

"Sounds good, I'll shift the Nord bastards." Opie nodded, opening the driver's door. The unconscious Nord tumbled out of the cab and landed in a heap on the concrete. "Well that oughta give him a headache." Opie chuckled to himself as he scooped up the Nord and unceremoniously dumped him in the dirt ditch at the side of the road before going back and heaving the second one out of the truck too. "Sleep well, racist fucks." He grunted spitting on the pair of them after he dumped the second on top of the first.

"Couldn't have said that better myself." Pixie smiled up at him as Opie picked her up.

"Yup. I got no sympathy for people who judge others for things they got no control over." Opie grunted. "Sure you're alright? You shot through that windshield hole so fast." Opie grinned

"Same here, and yeah, a little banged up but nothin' I wasn't expecting. The driver took the brunt of the impact for me." Pixie said with a giggle.

"How kind of him." Opie replied sarcastically with a smile as he set Pixie down on the steps of the truck cab so she could climb in. "Chibs is gonna lose his shit when he finds out what you did today."

"Yup, Juice and Tig too, I can practically hear the yelling already."

"Juice is on his way with Sack, you a'ight with the truck?" Jax came over, putting his phone away.

"Yeah, let's get this going before any more Nords show up." Pixie nodded, putting her helmet down on the bench seat and buckling up as Jax shut the door. She started up the truck again and revved the engine, letting everything warm up whilst Opie and Jax got on their bikes and began to lead the way.

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie was sat cross-legged on the hood of the truck chatting to Opie on his bike when they heard the familiar rumble of the TM tow truck as it came around the corner and Juice parked up a few feet from them before he hopped out with Half-Sack.

"Taxi for miss Telford?" Juice called, grinning as he strode over.

"Hey, J." Pixie grinned back.

"Why aren't you with your bike?" Half-Sack asked, puzzled.

"We had to steal a stolen truck." Pixie answered. "I rode behind Jax and jumped onto the hood and slid in through the windscreen hole." Pixie pointed behind her to the vacant cab. "Kicked Nord ass and now we're trying to sell the diesel to Unser. Jax went to get him, Opie's keeping guard."

"That's so cool!" Half-Sack said with a jump.

"Excuse me, _what_?" Juice sputtered. "How fast was the truck going when you jumped?"

Pixie grinned, shrugged and looked at Opie. "'Bout sixty." He answered. "Or at least, that's what I was doing when I had to hang back because the truck was swerving and I didn't want to get shunted off the road."

"Sorry 'bout that, the Nord wouldn't let go of the wheel." Pixie wrinkled her nose a little.

"S'okay, you're a better driver than he was." Opie answered. "You guys should've seen her." He grinned and chuckled. "She just flew onto the hood and slotted right in."

Juice shook his head in a mixture of amusement and exasperation. "Geez kiddo, I didn't know you were trying to set your record for most chaotic incidents in a day."

Pixie giggled. "Well, I've had two so far today, why not make it to three?"

Juice grabbed Pixie's left leg and tugged her down off the hood, throwing her over his shoulder, laughing. "No! No, no way am I letting that happen!"   
"Juice!" Pixie squealed as she hiccuped with laughter and tried to right herself as Juice started walking back to the tow truck. He put her down long enough for Half-Sack to grab her and pick her up, putting her into the tow truck's cab whilst Opie tossed Juice Pixie's helmet. She could see Opie chuckling at the three of them messing with each other as they all got into the cab. Pixie waved to him as Juice started up the engine and they drove off.

"Jax texted where your bike was." Juice told her as he hit the long stretch of road.

"That's good, 'coz I have no clue, road names are weird over here." Pixie confessed as Half-Sack changed the radio station, searching for something good. She heard the first notes of "Coming Undone" by "Korn" and grabbed his hand. "This song's really great."

"You like Korn?" Juice asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I can wear pink and like nu metal." Pixie stuck her tongue out at him and then bopped along to the chorus singing along with a little electric guitar motion. Juice shook his head, grinning. "Sing along, mate, you know you wanna." Pixie taunted as she rocked out next to him on the bench seat. Juice smiled at her antics and gave in, the pair of them singing their hearts out together for the duration of the song. He felt his anxieties drift away as he jammed along with Pixie and tapped the steering wheel grinning together as they let loose. When the song finally ended Pixie turned to Half-Sack. "What music do you like, bud?"

Half-Sack shrugged. "Mika's a good artist, my mom got me into the Bee Gees, though I'm a huge fan of ACDC. If it's got a good rhythm I'm happy with anything." Half-Sack explained.

Juice laughed at the mention of the Bee Gees. "Their vocal pitch is insane."

"I know, right?" Pixie giggled. "I can't even get my voice that high." She leant over and flicked through the radio searching for the pop channel to see if there was anything on there for Half-Sack. "You're in look, H, isn't this one of Mika's songs?" Pixie asked as she turned up the volume, it sounded like the song was in its first verse.

"Yeah! This is 'We Are Golden'." Half-Sack grinned.

"I thought so! I had a dance sequence to this in school." Pixie nodded.

"What?" Juice looked over for a second as they came to a stop sign.

"I was in a dance troupe all the way through school, we did performances at school functions and town events. When I left school I used to do dances with a woman called Simonika Ezekwesili, she's a local dancer and club hang about and we'd put on performances for the Sons occasionally." Pixie explained. "She runs a dance studio and let me hang out there with her sometimes."

"You seem like a dancer." Juice nodded, watching as Pixie bopped along in time with Half-Sack. "Seeing as how you're never still, even when you're asleep."

"What does Pixie do in her sleep?" Half-Sack asked.

"Mainly wriggles like a little caterpillar, though you did latch onto me and wouldn't let go." Juice recalled with a laugh. "I woke up having a dream I was being arrested and handcuffed, then realised that it wasn't handcuffs, just Pixie's little hands on my wrists."

Pixie giggled. "I'm not that bad! What were you being arrested for?"  
"I think it had something to do with jelly beans." Juice said, puzzled. "I either stole them, or ate too many."

"Maybe both?" Half-Sack suggested.

"Possibly." Juice grinned. "I see a pink fuel tank, we're in luck." He pointed up the road to the bush where Pixie had tucked her bike behind. Pixie's face lit up like she was seeing an old friend. Juice pulled in against the pavement and the three of them got out to check on Pixie's Harley. She wheeled it out from behind the bush and Juice scanned it over making sure it hadn't been tampered with. "Looks good to me, you're lucky it has a reaper or it would've been shifted." Juice chided. "Thankfully, people in this area are too wary of Samcro to touch anything that looks vaguely like it belongs to us."  
"Unless they're Mayans or Nords." Half-Sack spoke up. "Where did the Nords driving the truck go?"

"They got dumped out way back on the highway." Pixie told him, pointing vaguely off into the distance. "What're you guys doing now?"

"Well, we've got to go drop off a car from TM to the scrapyard and then we're out on a shift if you want to tag along?" Juice filled her in.

Pixie nodded. "Yeah, I got nothin' else going on now that Jax and Opie are sorting the tanker. She grinned up at them both. "Race you back to Charming?"

Juice beamed, rubbing his hands together. "Oh you're on."

Pixie put her helmet on and wheeled her bike down onto the road as Juice revved the tow truck engine and it rattled to life. Pixie started up her bike and they manoeuvred onto the back roads that lead to the quiet highway. Pixie sped up alongside the truck as Juice hit the gas and changed gears. Half-Sack rolled down the window and waved to Pixie as she sped past them easily before gunning down the road. Once she was satisfied she'd put a reasonable distance between them she stood up on her bike, putting her arms up before going back down and pulling up into a wheelie. Juice honked at her laughing at his maniac of a little sister, watching as she put the front wheel down and stood on the seat, and proceeded to do a leap of faith trick.

"Holy shit!" Half-Sack exclaimed as he watched Pixie jump into the air and land on the bike, tucking down and sitting, putting both her arms up in the air in celebration. She let the truck catch up to her and manoeuvred so she was next to Half-Sack, giving him a fist bump.

"You're mad!" Juice yelled over to her.

Pixie pulled up her visor. "Only as mad as you!" They grinned at each other before Pixie slowed switching sides to pull up next to Juice's window. She knocked on the glass to make him laugh and he rolled it down. "I can see two figures up in that ditch, I think it's the Nords!" Pixie called out to him, pointing to where two men were standing at the side of the road.

As they neared the figures, Juice honked his horn and put a middle finger out the window. Pixie rode past standing up on her bike, giving them a double middle finger salute.

"Fuckers!" Half-Sack called to them. The Nords realised who the trio were, recognising Pixie's outfit and watched as the Sons rode past them, knowing they could do nothing but watch the group as they blasted past them, rubbing their failure in their faces.

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie and the guys pulled into the lot and were greeted by Clay and Tig smoking outside.

"Thought you were with Jax and Ope?" Clay called out.

"They're with the truck." Pixie called back as she took her helmet off. Juice and Half-Sack drove the truck further up to collect the scrap car.

"What truck?" Clay said looking thoroughly confused as Pixie jogged over.

"The truck driver, Andy, didn't get the meth in Charming, he said you can't get anything in this town. He went to Pope for it." Pixie said getting the most important fact out of the way first.

"Thank fuck." Tig said, looking relieved. "So what happened, doll?"

Pixie launched into her explanation, talking them through what she'd been up to with Jax and Opie and their plan to sell the diesel to Unser for his trucking company and how she'd managed to claim the truck by jumping on the hood.

"Baby!" Tig exclaimed, his protective side taking over as he grabbed her and pulled her into his lap. "You seriously jumped a truck doing sixty or more?"

"Yeah?" Pixie nodded. "If Jax had shot the driver, the tanker could've blown, or gone off the highway, it was the safest option."

Clay blinked. "Well, yeah, but we don't want to scrape prospect roadkill off the highway."

"I wasn't gonna get squished, I've done that shit so many different times." Pixie explained. "It's one of the things my charter used me for."

Tig shook his head. "Geez, baby, and I thought I was insane."

"So Jax thinks he's secured fifteen K?" Clay mused.

"He reckoned he could talk Unser into more, but we'll see. Fifteen gets the debt down to twenty." Pixie nodded. "Which is good."

Tig nodded. "We can work with that."

"Speaking of which, I'm gonna head out with Juice and Half-Sack, help with their shift, unless you guys need anything here?"

Clay shook his head. "Nope, you're free to go kid, just try not to do any more reckless activities."

Pixie scoffed as she slid off Tig's lap. "This is me we're talking about." She grinned and kissed Tig's cheek before jogging off to help Juice and Half-Sack.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	66. Top Rocker

"Are you two seriously still playing that game? It's been like ten minutes." Juice laughed as he got back into the tow truck to see Half-Sack and Pixie sat cross legged on the truck bench seat facing each other, playing slap hands. Pixie had her hands down on top of Half-Sacks and he was trying to move his hands fast enough to slap the back of Pixie's, but wasn't succeeding so far.

"Yeah! I almost got her." Half-Sack answered. "Everything okay with the scrap car?"

"Yup, spoke to Oliver, he's gonna send the paperwork over to Clay when it's ready." Juice said as he got back in. Pixie looked over her shoulder at Juice.

"We should take H and Cherry back here tomorrow and have a smashing session." Pixie suggested just as Half-Sack seized the opportunity of Pixie's distracted state to slap her hands. "H! That's cheating!" Pixie grumbled at him.

"You never paused the game." Half-Sack grinned back. "That's a point for me."

"Fine, I'll let you have that one, but only 'coz I have four more points than you." Pixie said smugly.

"I'm so gonna beat you at this." Half-Sack grinned back, the pair resetting the game with Half-Sack's hands on top of Pixie's this time.

"You guys argue like five year olds, you know that, right?" Juice chuckled. "But yeah we should take Sack and Cherry out to the junkyard, I've been dying to do that again since the last time, see if Lowell's around too." Juice replied.

"Lowell told me about it," Half-Sack put in, "I'd really like to do that, plus it might be kinda hot to see Cherry doin' stuff like that." Half-Sack said looking up, before he could react Pixie slapped his hands. "Shit, ya got me."

"Five to me! One to you!" Pixie did a little victory dance. "I think it might be good for Cherry to come do it, she needs to bond with us more, especially as you and her seem to be getting closer."

"I for one am surprised you didn't end up with a milf." Juice joked making Pixie giggle and Half-Sack groaned as he reset their hand game.

"Thought everyone forgot about that." He grunted.

"How can we possibly forget 'milf chubby'?" Pixie laughed. "One of the funniest moments I've had in awhile." Pixie grinned. "But seriously, ask her, H, we're all really happy you got your girl, she's lovely and it's good she sees what an amazing guy you are."

Half-Sack blushed. "I'm not amazing." He moved his hands quickly but Pixie dodged them. "Dammit."   
"Yeah you are! Back me up here, J." Pixie leant backwards and put her head on Juice's shoulder for a second.

"You're an odd guy, but I like ya." Juice put in. The sound of a phone chimed in the cab and Juice perked up a bit. "Pix, check the phone on the dash, see if we need to go pick up anything or whether we can just patrol around."

Pixie leant across grabbed the blue Nokia brick. "Yup, green Ford broken down outside 'El Taco Llama' and 'Ray's Coffee Shop' wherever they are." Pixie said looking up at Juice.

Juice chuckled. "Restaurant district on the opposite side of Charming. Llama has greasy tacos but they taste okay. Guy sells weed too." He changed gears and sped up a little heading back across Charming. Half-Sack poked the radio and found Kiss, watching as Pixie's face lit up and she bopped along.

"I swear you love every type of music." He commented.

"Nah, I don't like Celine Dion or rap particularly, but I'm like you, if it's got a good beat, I'm happy with whatever."

"No Eminiem?" Juice asked.

"Nah, 'M&M's' on the other hand, I'm a big fan of." Pixie shifted in her seat so she could face the windshield as the other two laughed at her joke.

"Gotta agree with you there." Half-Sack nodded. "I mainly eat M&M's when I get high."

"Peanut, crispy or chocolate? I always go for the crispy ones when I'm whacked out." Juice grinned.

"Same, man." Half-Sack grinned. "You ever tried weed, Pix?"

"When I was sixteen yeah, Sammy and Squid, my old prospect buddies would go up onto Sammy's grandpa's fishing boat and just smoke for a bit to get away from all the madness. They'd drag me up there sometimes when I was too hyped up and agitated and couldn't calm myself down. It helped with that, but I stopped when I became more involved in the club, riding became my release instead. Last time I smoked was when I found out Bruce and the club had lied about the IRA."

Juice scrunched his nose. "Are you okay with it the second time around?"

Pixie sighed. "Yeah and no. Yeah, because I see why you all did it. It shows you care about me enough to want to protect me, but at the same time, I'm trusting you guys with everything here, I've told you all my secrets and some really dark shit, and then I come to find that you're repeating the same mistakes that subsequently caused my charter to burn down to ashes." She swallowed hard. "This club needs to air out all the secrets and stop hiding shit, the more we do it, the more the club'll come apart at the seams."

"I agree, I hate that I hurt you, that we all hurt you, Pix, I'm sorry, _cariño_. That was never what we meant to do, we all just unanimously panicked and hid it without even discussing the best course of action." Juice said patting Pixie's knee.

"It's okay, J. I want to bring it up in church though, and the fact Clay lied about Lowell's dad and made Tig withhold the truth, we need our president to be open with us."

"I'll back you on that, Pix." Half-Sack piped up. "All the secrecy shit makes me nervous, man, I could use a good smoke."

"I feel you there brother. I can hook you up, if you're down?" Juice offered. "Does Cherry smoke?"

"Occasionally, she likes chocolate when she's stressed though. She was sayin' that she loves wagon wheels, y'know the cookie with the marshmallow? I'm gonna go grab her some this evening."

"That's a good idea." Pixie nodded. "You're a good boyfriend to her. Oh hey! I see then Ford!" Pixie pointed to a car with its hazard lights on and a disgruntled elderly gentleman stood beside it in a red flannel shirt and jeans. Juice pulled in and the trio hopped out.

"Hi sir, you havin' car trouble?" Pixie greeted.

The man did a double take seeing Pixie with the other two. "Yes, miss. The fan belt blew."

"Oh dear, we'll get it hitched and take it back to the garage, I hope the rest of your day is going better?"

The man smiled at seeing how friendly Pixie was. "I think after a coffee it will be. Am I okay to leave the car with you and collect it when it's ready? I'm off to the theatre in an hour."

"Sure thing sir, I'll get H to take down your details, and then we'll get back to you when it's ready, I hope the theatre goes well."

"Why thank you, little lady." The man beamed as Half-Sack stepped forward with a clipboard. Pixie went over to Juice and helped him connect the car up.

"I think we need to make you our honorary PR woman, that guy went from being frustrated to cheerful in seconds." Juice murmured as they worked together.

"You just gotta give 'em a nice smile." Pixie answered him, she watched as the guy went back into the coffee shop and Half-Sack came back with the paperwork. Juice began winching the car and Half-Sack gave Pixie nudge. 

"Slap hands round seven?"

"Oh you're on." Pixie giggled as they put their hands together.

"You guys are so easily entertained." Juice chuckled as he settled himself on edge of the truck to wait as the winch started lifting the car.

Pixie slapped Half-Sack's hands. "Six to me! One to you!" Pixie cheered. "Wanna see if you can beat me?" Pixie asked Juice.

"Sure." Juice nodded, putting out his hands. The pair of them slapped and dodged each other's hands, Juice finding it more entertaining that he thought it would be. "You're so speedy, what the fuck." Juice laughed as he missed Pixie's hands again. They looked up as they heard an engine and the three of them watched as an ambulance drove past them and into the parking lot of 'El Taco Llama', the driver jumped down and headed inside.

"Hey Pix?" Half-Sack said, sounding like he was thinking hard.

"Yeah, bud?"

"How much did you make selling medical supplies?"

"Big, big figures, why?"

"Handle this for me." Half-Sack said before he suddenly took off at a run across the road.

"Where you goin'?" Juice called out to him.

"Gettin' my top rocker!" Half-Sack called back.

"What?" Juice said looking at Pixie and then back at Half-Sack who reached the driver's door of the ambulance. "Oh no, you're not." Juice said with disbelief on his face as Half-Sack jumped into the cab and the ambulance's engine roared to life. "Yes you are." He said shaking his head as they watched the ambulance reverse hastily out of the parking lot and take off at high speed down the road.

"Well that's gonna go down well." Pixie said sarcastically with a giggle.

"You're a bad influence, kiddo." Juice said, giving Pixie a playful shove as he went to finish winching the car to speed things up and get away from the scene as fast as possible.

"What did I do?" Pixie said emphatically as she came over to help.  
"I think your chaotic vibes made Sack go nuts." Juice joked.

Pixie stuck her tongue out at him. "It's not my fault I'm an interesting person." She leant over and slapped the back of Juice's hands. "I win."

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie sat cross legged in the cab of the tow truck on the way back to the garage, studying a map she'd found wedged down the side of the seat. She looked at all the different towns and cities in the area getting a better idea of where Charming was in relation to the place names the others had thrown around in conversation.

"How much trouble do you think H is gonna be in?" Pixie asked as Juice tapped the steering wheel in time to Lynyrd Skynyrd.

"Hopefully, not that much, or at least not for a while, pretty much everyone's out doing different things today, most of the guys aren't even at the clubhouse."

"That's good, there's no way we can sell the ambulance or the medical supplies in time for tomorrow evening."

Juice chuckled. "Yup, he wasn't really thinking. Dunno how we're gonna find the rest of the money."

"We'll make it." Pixie assured him, as they drove up the road towards the garage and clubhouse, an idea forming in Pixie's mind. Juice pulled up and jumped down from the cab. "Hey, are you alright here?"

Juice nodded. "Yeah, I'm gonna go get Lowell to come have a look at the car."

"Okay, that's good." Pixie smiled. Juice's eyes narrowed seeing Pixie's face as she started making her way across the lot.

"What're you up to?"

"Nothing bad, I promise!" she called back, suddenly taking off at a run towards the clubhouse. Seconds later she emerged from the clubhouse minus her kutte and with her backpack on.

"Pix! Where you goin'?" Juice yelled across the lot.

"Gettin' my top rocker too!" Pixie yelled back, putting her helmet on, she jumped on her bike and roared out of the lot before Juice could even think about stopping her.

"What the fuck?" Juice grunted running a hand along his mohawk.

☠️☠️☠️

Out on the road, and with the Charming border left in her dust, Pixie made her way onto the Golden State Highway and then onto the I-5 S, I-205 W, I-580 W and I-880 N to 6th Street in Oakland. She then took exit 41B from I-880 N and found herself in the large city. Pixie began trawling the roads, looking for bars where she hoped to initiate her plan. Pixie pulled into the side of a road for a second to get her bearings and look for a good place to start. A silver car pulled up next to her and she looked over to see two black men wearing purple t-shirts in the car, Pixie pulled up her visor.

"Hey lil mama, haven't seen ya around these parts before." The driver spoke up.

Pixie shrugged. "I'm sightseeing, new to the area."

The passenger chuckled. "I like your bike, you got a name, sweetheart?"

"Thanks, everyone's got a name." Pixie joked, smiling at them, whilst trying to gauge what they were after. "Though I usually don't tell mine to strangers."

"Smart girl." The driver smiled. "I'm Laroy, this is Tyler."  
"Nice to meet you both, you wouldn't happen to know of any good bars around here?"

"You lookin' for a drink?" Laroy asked.

"Nah, I just like the atmosphere, and the fun." Pixie told them.

"Hm, well, we got a bar if you wanna come hang with us?" Laroy offered. "We take care of our own, 'specially as some parts of here can be rough."

Pixie's brow furrowed for a second until she realised what he meant, he was offering her protection because of her skin tone. Pixie had never experienced this before, most of the time people never commented on it, or judged her for it, except for the Charming Sons, who'd been very accepting. "Oh, well thanks." Pixie smiled. "You guys got a pool table?"

"We got several." Tyler smiled.

"Alright, sure." Pixie nodded, whilst she knew she was taking a risk, she'd done this kind of thing before, and knew she could handle any hostile situation that could potentially arise.

"Follow our car, we'll lead you." Laroy told her as he pulled away from Pixie and started driving, Pixie pulled her visor down and followed on, taking note of her surroundings, and memorising the license plate, just in case. They pulled up to a brick building about a minute later, it had boarded up windows and a black painted door, and a couple of black men in purple shirts were stood outside smoking, when they saw Laroy, they all stood up and greeted him, Pixie watched the dynamic and wondered if she'd stumbled across a gang and their leader, she wasn't one to judge, seeing as she was in a club herself, and chained her helmet and bike up to a lamp post.

"Watch that for her." Laroy pointed to the bike and immediately one of the men stood up and began loitering next to her bike.

"Thanks, mate." Pixie smiled at him, the guy was taken aback by her accent but said nothing as she sped up to catch up to Laroy and Tyler. "This your clubhouse?" Pixie asked as she reached them.

"You clocked us already." Laroy smiled. "You know about clubs?"  
Pixie shrugged vaguely. "Seen 'em around. So who are you guys?" Pixie asked boldly.

"Smart and confident, I like you, girl." Laroy nodded. "One-Niners, now you know more about us, can we have your name?"

"You can call me P." Pixie smiled up at him, _Well this is gonna be an interesting story to tell the guys_ , she thought to herself. "I think you like the mystery of me."

Laroy chuckled. "I do, come on in, lil P."

Pixie followed Laroy and Tyler, stepping inside. The walls were clad in light polished wood with purple fairy lights hung along the walls, there were a few purple neon lights to accentuate the room and give it more of a nightclub atmosphere. Pixie was sensing a theme as she looked around the club, the carpet, booths, lights, and artwork were all purple, as were the articles of clothing worn by the various members and women dotted around the place. Laroy and Tyler watched Pixie take in the atmosphere, her head held high, shoulders back, she was completely confident and relaxed, looking like she was a regular, rather than a chick they'd welcomed in off the street. Pixie intrigued Laroy, he was captivated by her warm smile and friendly nature, but he could see there was an edge to her, she could hold her own no doubt.

"I see you guys have a thing for purple." Pixie commented. "Signifies royalty, power and ambition."

Laroy nodded, impressed. "You know what we stand for, then. Kings of the streets." He tapped the bar to signal he wanted a drink, the bartender immediately stopping what she was doing to sort it for him. "You want a drink?"

"If you have lemonade, I'll go for that." Pixie smiled.

"You not legal?" Tyler asked.

"Oh, I'm twenty-two, I just like to have my wits about me." Pixie explained as the bartender handed her a glass of lemonade. "Thank you so much." Pixie smiled, reaching to grab her wallet. Laroy stopped her.

"My treat, lil P." He smiled, watching as Pixie swayed to the song playing. "You a dancer?"

"Not professionally, but it's fun." Pixie took a sip of her drink and followed Laroy as he put his down on a booth table. He was a slender man, in his early thirties and was around six feet tall with his hair buzzed short. "What do you do professionally?"

"I'm a mechanic." Pixie informed him.

"Good with your hands then?"

"You could say that." Pixie grinned, seeing how Laroy smiled and tipped his head back.

"I'm dyin' here, P, you gotta give me somethin' about you."

"I'll tell you one fact about me, if you play pool with me." Pixie offered, starting up her game now she knew she had Laroy hook, line, and sinker.

"Deal." Laroy beamed, getting up from the booth and leading Pixie to a pool table where he set it up. She reigned in her tricks and talent with the game, making it seem like her and Laroy were equally matched with one another, eventually managing to win the game.

"Beat you." Pixie jumped with excitement, making it seem like she was surprised to win.

Laroy raised his eyebrows. "I'm impressed, girl."

"Thanks! Okay, seeing as you humoured me, here's a little fact, I like to draw for fun."

"I'll have to get you to doodle for me, then." Laroy said, looking up as Tyler came over intrigued, he'd been watching them and was surprised by the fact Pixie was able to beat Laroy at pool. Tyler looked younger than Laroy, he was tall too, slim built with a closely shaven head and goatee. he had a pair of diamond stud earrings on and was dressed in a purple polo shirt and jeans.

"You wanna play a round of pool with me?" He asked Pixie as she reset the balls.

"Maybe, how about we up the stakes a little? Make it more _fun_." Pixie winked, drawing Tyler further into her game, getting him to do what she wanted without actually telling him outright.

"Oh yeah?" Tyler reached into his pocket and put five dollars down on the side. "I win, you dance with me, I lose, you get five dollars."

Pixie nodded. "Oh I like that idea." She encouraged him, making it seem like she wanted to dance. They started the game as more guys came to see who Tyler and Laroy and brought in. Pixie let Tyler take the lead with the game, making it seem like she was struggling and then right at the last possible moment, she sunk her balls ans won the game, the others guys watching were hooked, and played right into Pixie's game, eagerly wanting to take her on to win a dance, whilst also competing with each other to impress her with high money stakes to try and eliminate the other guys wanting Pixie's attention. She kept them hooked with friendly touches and comments, and light flirts just to keep them interested and feeling as though they were getting something from the encounter. Pixie also kept them distracted by dancing along to songs when she let some of the guys win, or telling them little facts and anecdotes about herself that were vague enough for the guys to want more information, and also didn't blow her cover.

After two hours of playing with the One-Niners, Pixie's bag was beginning to get full of the money they were giving her for the games, she kept putting the notes in her bag as soon as they handed it over so it was harder for the men to keep track of how much Pixie was actually earning, and she was grateful for the crowd as it meant that the money was flowing steadily from different sources and that it was hard for the guys to work out how much they were giving her. Pixie knew it was time to move on before the guys realised what Pixie was actually there to do, especially as one of them had commented about the reaper on her bike, and Pixie had said it was a reference to how she lived life on the edge and didn't fear death, then distracted them with compliments whilst she subtly looked around the room, trying to work out how she could slip out without any more questions being raised. She seized her opportunity when the bartender came over with a tray of beers, and the group clamoured around her to get them, Pixie slowly stepped further and further away before being able to slip out unnoticed. She got outside and smiled to the guys standing near her bike.

"Thanks for looking after it for me." She said graciously, handing over five dollars. The guy smiled at her and went inside as she hastily unclipped the chain, shoved her helmet on and got the hell out of there. She drove for a couple of blocks before pulling over into a quiet alley to see just how much she'd managed to acquire. As she counted, she felt really guilty for taking so much from the One-Niners, especially as they'd been so sweet towards her, but at the same time, she knew the Sons were in dire need, and if they didn't get the IRA money, they'd be in deep trouble. Pixie bit her lip when the total came to twenty K, she hadn't meant to get that much, she'd hoped for at least five, but there had been so many guys, the money just kept rolling in, especially when they kept upping the amount they were willing to give her. Pixie closed her bag up and tightened the straps to make sure it couldn't be taken off her back easily by potential muggers or assailants. 

Pixie decided to find a couple more bars before she headed back to Charming, wanting to meet her twenty five K goal that she set out to accomplish. After about twenty minutes, she found one that looked suitable, a nightclub and bar affair with a couple of burly looking men smoking outside, Pixie secured her bike near a row of others and headed inside. She quickly located the darts boards and started talking to a couple of guys who were playing. They were in their mid-forties and Caucasian with greying hair and beards. They immediately took to Pixie's charm and warmed to her compliments and before they knew what was happening, she was wowing them with her dart skills and earning tips as she did tricks and competed with them. Just the same as with the One-Niners, as soon as the guys here started to ask questions, she slipped away and moved on. 

Pixie eventually stumbled across a bar that she just _knew_ would make the other Sons go crazy and overprotective if they caught her within the vicinity of. It was rundown and seedy looking and the people milling around outside looked as though they had questionable morals, Pixie knew she had to try it as these types of places were easy to hustle. Pixie secured her bike behind a dumpster, making sure it couldn't be seen unless you were looking for it and slipped past the bouncer who's eyes were glazed, obviously on some type of high. Inside, the music pounded into Pixie's ears like a relentless boxer as she looked for somewhere to make the last three K she needed. Pixie spotted some worn down pool tables and weaved through the bodies on the dance floor to get up to the bar section of the open plan club. Once there, she started up her hustling game, not even having to up her charm seeing as the people playing were heavily intoxicated, despite it being four in the afternoon. Pixie managed to make ten K easily before deciding she should probably head back. As she weaved through the crowd again, she lost her bearings seeing as she couldn't see over most people's shoulders, so she stood on tiptoes to work out where the exit was and scanned the room, her eyes coming to rest on a familiar pair of dark brown eyes. Pixie froze as she exchanged a surprised and shocked expression with Happy from across the dance floor, Pixie sank down into the crowd as Happy's face went from confused and taken aback to the expression he reserved for when Pixie was in trouble. Pixie began weaving through the crowd hastily, trying to make it to the exit before Happy. _Oh shit! I am screwed, I am very, very screwed._ Pixie thought as she burst back out of the club and jogged round the corner to the back alley where she'd put her bike. As Pixie went past one of the side doors, it flew open and Happy lunged for her, hauling her up and against the wall.

"Oh hi, Hap." She smiled sheepishly, knowing she was in for it now.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" He hissed at her.

"Just exploring the area and earning money." Pixie explained, aware that her feet were nowhere near the ground.

"Doing what?!"

"Just hustling! I was heading back to Charming now anyway."

"Do the others know you're here?"

"They were all busy, and it's not like I was looking for a fight or trouble, I was just playing pool and darts. What're you doing here?"

"Enjoying time off." Happy said gruffly, setting Pixie back on her feet. " _Never_ come back to this place, the 'Jellybean' is off limits." He said firmly.

"It doesn't seem that bad." Pixie tried to reason.

"The main part doesn't, the back however..." Happy trailed off his eyes glinting darkly. Pixie got his point.

"Okay, it's not like I was gonna make this a regular thing anyways, I was trying to help the club with their Irish debt."

Happy nodded, calming a little now his little sister figure was safely out of the club. "How'd you do?"

"Thirty-two K." Pixie smiled.

Happy's eyebrows raised. "Jesus."

"I'm good at what I do." Pixie smiled. "I'm glad I got to see you, are you mad at me?"

"No, I'm used to your antics, but seeing you in there with that crowd... you're lucky you weren't grabbed."

"I get you, I have three knives on me, so I'd be able to defend myself, and I was keeping an eye out for people watching me too."

"Good." Happy let out a breath. "Bike?"

"Hid it behind the dumpster." Pixie pointed to it and Happy helped her move it and unchained her bike. "Where's yours?"

"Block away."

Pixie got on her bike and patted the seat behind her. "Want a ride? Or are you gonna stay here longer? Sorry for crashing your day off."

"I'll head back, I wanna to make sure you get back to the club safe, especially with all the cash." Happy said as he came over to Pixie's bike. "No more trawling bad bars, kid."   
"Thanks, Hap, I'll make it up to you." Pixie smiled as she pulled on her helmet and Happy got on the back.

"You can come watch cartoons with me, how's that?"

"Deal, I'll get you cookies too."

"Make sure they're 'Chips Ahoy'."

"Will do." Pixie grinned as she started up her engine.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	67. Crazy Family

Juice and Half-Sack started closing up the garage once the last of the mechanics had gone home, making sure none of them acknowledged the ambulance that was sitting in pride of place in the centre bay. The other Sons were catching each other up on what they'd been doing that day in the garage office. He pulled the last of the shutters down, turning around and jumping back as he realised Tig had been standing right behind him, hands on hips.

"So you stole an ambulance?" He asked, eyebrows raised.

"I had nothing to do with that!" Juice objected quickly, pointing his finger at Half-Sack who was stood by the stolen vehicle, ready to defend himself to the others as they came out of the office and sat around the garage, ready for the roasting to begin.

"Yeah." Half-Sack said confidently. "These things are like a hundred grand easy."

"Yeah they are." Clay spoke up, grinning as Juice stood beside Half-Sack with a hand over his mouth to hide his smile. "That's why the people who buy 'em are, like, state and federal agencies and shit."

"Okay." Half-Sack said eagerly.

"So, uh, what?" Clay grinned. "You want me to sell a stolen vehicle to the government?" Clay asked as the other Sons chuckled.

Half-Sack started to look nervous, rubbing his hands together. "Oh, no, uh, just- just something like, uh, a small hospital or something. Or the supplies inside like Pixie's charter?" He offered. Juice stopped hiding his grin, finding Half-Sack's thinking way too entertaining.

"Oh, like, uh, 'Uncle Freddy's Infirmary'? What?" Clay folded his arms and leant against the doorway as the others laughed again.

"Why don't you just steal, like, a fire engine? And then we could have our own rescue centre! And then we could have our own little uniforms and hats!" Tig said, putting on a baby voice and sounding like an excited kid as the others Sons chuckled along.

"Okay I get it." Half-Sack nodded, realising his mistake. "I was just, you know, tryin' to show a little initiative." He tried to defend himself, Juice patted him on the back, shaking his head and grinning as Clay laughed at Half-Sack.

"Hey, Chibs, get rid of this thing as soon as it gets dark."

"You got it." Chibs nodded. "Where's Pixie?" He suddenly realised that there was a significant absence of pink in the garage.

"She was with me and Sack this afternoon, then she ran off, she's not with any of you guys?" Juice asked, brow furrowing. The Sons looked at each other and then back at Sack and Juice.

"You lost Pixie?" Tig growled.

"No! She said something about a top rocker, and rode off, I guessed she went back to Jax?" Juice reasoned.

"But you don't know for sure? You let the embodiment of chaos and trouble ride off on her own?" Clay asked.

"And you let Sack steal an ambulance." Chibs put in.

"Hey, neither of those things are my fault! What am I, prospect babysitter?"

The guys looked at each other and then back and Juice again. "Yes!" They chimed together. Juice put hands up in the air and stroked his mohawk.

The shutters opened and Jax limped in, grinning, he caught sight of the ambulance. "What the hell is this?"

Chibs stood up, putting his arm around a disgruntled Half-Sack. "My prospect." He grinned.

"You know, just thinkin' outside of the box." Half-Sack mumbled.

"Pixie with you?" Tig asked.

Jax looked at him confused. "No? Haven't seen or heard from her since Juice and Sack came and got her."

"Well, shit." Chibs cursed.

"You guys lost her?" Jax asked, looking at Juice and Half-Sack.

As Juice was about to defend himself, two motorcycle engines sounded from the road, the Sons all looked outside as Pixie and Happy rode into the lot. Pixie straightened her legs as she rode in, giving the guys a little wave as she carried on riding up the lot and parked up in the bay. Happy pulled up just outside and strode in.

"Where the hell have you been?" Jax asked.

"Oakland." Pixie answered with an innocent smile as she put her helmet on the handlebars of her bike and got off.

" _Oakland_?! What the feck where you doin' in Oakland?" Chibs sputtered.

"Hustling at bars? Went to go make sure we covered the cost of the Irish debt, just in case the tanker thing fell through." Pixie explained.

"And you didn't think to, I don't know, _tell one of us_?" Juice said exasperatedly.

"All you guys were busy! I wasn't going down there to fight or anything, I just bar hopped for a bit." Pixie said defensively.

"Found her in the Jellybean." Happy spoke up, Chibs did a spit take of his beer and Tig felt his blood pressure skyrocket.

"Jesus!" Tig exclaimed.

"Pixie! That place is a cesspool for low-lifes and really dark shit." Juice exclaimed. He looked over at Happy. "No offence."

"It's not like they have a sign on the door saying 'Oakland's Slice of Hell', I didn't know! I just went in 'coz it looked run down and dodgy, and those places are some of the best for hustling." Pixie explained. "I didn't go to Oakland unarmed, and I took proper safety precautions. I was fine." She added. "I only went to three bars too, the other was some old-timer bar and then the One-Niners took me to theirs when I first arrived."

Clay did a double take. "You hustled at a One-Niners bar? Are you crazy?"

"Potentially." Pixie answered. "Do you guys want the thirty-two K or are you just gonna keep yelling at me?"

There was a moment of silence as the Sons took in Pixie's words. "Thirty-two K? No fucking way." Jax spoke up. Pixie took her bag off and tossed it to him.

"Count it." She grinned as Jax opened the bag onto a workbench and he started hastily counting out the scrunched up bills with Bobby.

"What were you doing in a One-Niners bar?" Tig asked.

"They invited me, so I went and hustled, they're actually some of the most competitive guys I've ever met, pretty friendly too. They contributed about twenty K just 'coz they were all competing with each other to win the game and dance with me." Pixie explained, Tig's eyes flashed dangerously. "Hey, I didn't cheat or anything, I kept it all PG and it was all strictly business on my end. You're the only guy I like, Tiggy."

"No, no, don't you try to sweet talk and 'Tiggy' me, you know what you did." Tig growled.

"What did I do?!"

"You took so many risks today!" Tig said exasperatedly.

"So you were fine when I jumped onto a truck full of Nords, but as soon as I take a quick trip to Oakland, I'm in trouble?"

Chibs' eyes went wide. "Ye did wha'?!"

Happy grabbed Pixie around the waist and sat her on one of the metal tool cabinets so the Sons could gather round. "Start talkin'." He told her.

Pixie nodded, sighed and filled everyone in, going from the tanker incident with Jax and Opie, to reading the map and seeing that it was relatively easy to get from Charming to Oakland, and then what had happened when she made it up there. Chibs could barely believe what he was hearing when Pixie told him about how she'd jumped inside the truck with the Nords, his protective fatherly instincts kicking in, fussing over Pixie until she'd shown him the friction burn on her arm. Once the Sons had gotten over their initial shock, they'd found the humour in the situation, making jokes about Pixie's influence over the One-Niners and how easily she'd managed to lure them in.

"I don't believe it, kid's right, there's thirty-two K here." Jax piped up from where he'd been stacking the money. "Add that to the twenty K I made from selling the diesel to Unser, we're flush with the Irish and have twenty-seven K to spare."

There was a round of cheers from the Sons who congratulated both Jax and Pixie.

"I beat you, Teller!" Pixie grinned. "You're slacking."

Jax laughed and pulled Pixie into a headlock. "The devil works hard, but Pixie works harder." He joked, ruffling Pixie's hair before he let her go.

"Tha' she does." Chibs said, pulling Pixie in for a hug. "Proud of ye, mo ghràdh, even if ye did make us all panic."

"I'm sorry I made you all worry, I'm used to just going out and doing things on my own, my last charter relied on me to keep everything running smoothly and doing whatever needed to be done. I would've taken backup if I knew it was going to be hostile, but for trips like that it would just be me and my bike. I didn't take my kutte either, just in case things did go south, then it wouldn't blow back on the club. I know I seem chaotic, but there is logic to my madness." Pixie explained.

"Aye, ye did good today, lass."

"Thanks, Chibbie." Pixie smiled, she caught sight of Tig leaning against the ambulance a little way off from the group and moved towards him.

"You mad at me?" Pixie asked cautiously.

Tig ran a hand through his hair. "You scared me, doll."

"I know, I would've texted you, but you weren't at the club when I got back and I assumed you'd be doing something important and I didn't want to distract you from that."  
"What would you have done if things had gone south in Oakland, huh?"

"I would've fought my way out of the situation if I had to, you know I have three knives on me." Pixie pulled out her phone, showing it to Tig. "Plus I had this ready." Pixie pointed to the screen, seeing that Pixie had prepared a mass text to every single Sons number she had on her phone, the text detailed that she was at Oakland and the district she'd been in. "Juice can track my phone too, so this would've given you a head start, just in case. I'm always gonna find my way back to you, Tiggy. I love you." Pixie said gently, taking a tentative step closer to him. Tig looked up and then back at Pixie again, like he was wanting to stay mad, but also really just wanted to pick her up and hug her.

"C'mon, forgive tha' lass, ye do crazy bullshite all tha' time." Chibs called out, causing the other Sons to start teasing Tig too. Tig's resolve folded and he hauled Pixie up into his arms and kissed her, to the accompaniment of wolf-whistles and cheers.

"I love you too, baby." He said putting his forehead against hers for a second before setting Pixie down on the ground. Pixie realised that all the Sons were together, and it was a good opportunity to air out the IRA and the Lowell situation. She moved over to Jax and asked what he thought. Jax nodded and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, guys? Can we have a little impromptu meeting? There's some things Jax and I want to talk about, and they both involve everyone." Pixie spoke up.

Everyone turned to look at them and Clay nodded.

"What's up?" He asked her, crossing his arms and leaning against the door to the office as the other Sons sat down around the garage to listen.

"I know it's not my place to call shots, or influence club decisions or anything, I shouldn't even technically be sitting at the table whenever I've been allowed in Church, so don't think that this is me trying to overstep or anything." Pixie pre-warned, hoping it might appease Clay. "But all of you kept the fact that you're dealing with the IRA from me, for months. Even when I asked you guys, outright, what was happening. Then you continued to keep it from me, even when I told you about my past." Pixie said calmly, her hand subconsciously going to stroke her left thigh where the IRA scars were hidden under her jeans. "You all know everything about me, how badly the IRA screwed my club over. I understand why you hid the truth from me, and I appreciate that you wanted to protect me, but you guys still hurt me, lying never helps anything, and in doing so, you made the same mistake as my last charter." Pixie said what she needed to and bit her lip.

"Hurting ye, was _never_ the intention, lass." Chibs spoke up first. "Yer right, we did try ta protect ye, but we did it in tha' wrong way. We're all sorry, lass. Do ye still trust us?"

Pixie nodded. "I do, you're all family to me, and I'd do anything to protect every single one of you. The club needs to try and stop harbouring secrets though, otherwise this club will crumble down around us. The more open and trusting we are with each other, the more chance we have of survival, especially with outside influences such as the ATF. I met Agent Stahl briefly when I helped take Lowell down to Charming PD, and she just screams 'manipulative bitch. I just have a feeling that she's going to try and do anything to pit this club against each other, and if we're all hiding secrets, then we're basically handing her a loaded gun." Pixie finished, leaning in closer to Jax, feeling tense and nervous. Jax tightened his arm around Pixie.

"I'm with Pixie on this." He spoke up. "I thought I knew most of this club's history, but turns out I was lied to, too. We know what really happened with Lowell Harland senior, Clay." Jax said looking into Clay's eyes, challenging him to deny anything. "We know he was a rat, and that the club disposed of him, question is, why didn't you tell us?"

The tension in the air was palpable as everyone turned to look at Clay. he shifted, standing up straight and walking towards Jax and Pixie. "That shit's fifteen years old, we were in a war, I did what I had to do to save this charter, and to protect it." He growled.

"I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and say you lied to protect Lowell junior, but why lie to the rest of the guys?" Pixie spoke up.

" _You_ were never a part of this." Clay hissed at her, jabbing a ring clad finger in her direction.

"I am now, this club's my family, Lowell's my friend and that lie almost cost him his life." Pixie stood her ground, moving out from under Jax's arm, showing her VP side by standing straight, staring up at Clay with her jaw set.

"I did what I did to make sure that everyone was on the same page, if the club knew, but Lowell and the authorities didn't, there could've been slip-ups." Clay explained, looking at Jax and the others.

"We wouldn't have told a soul." Bobby said calmly. "You know that, Clay."

"It was a stressful time, I didn't handle my shit in the right way, I'm sorry. That what you wanna hear?" Clay asked, turning to Jax and raising his hands up in a surrender motion. Pixie narrowed her eyes, she questioned his sincerity, wondering if he was apologizing simply because he was caught, rather than actually seeing where he went wrong.  
Jax nodded. "Yeah, Pixie's right about the ATF shit, we need to be open with each other going forward, anyone has something to say, the whole club needs to know."

"My club used to have weekly debriefs where we'd all sit down and talk about what everyone had been doing that week, just so everything was smoothed over and everyone was on the same page, it helps stop miscommunications and strengthens bonds too." Pixie added.

"I like that idea." Bobby smiled. "Clay?"  
Clay sighed. "Sure, we can all sit around and have a pow wow, that what everyone wants?" The Sons all looked at each other before raising their hands up to signal they all unanimously liked the idea. "Bunch of girl scouts." Clay joked to break the last of the tension.

"How 'bout we all celebrate, I mean, this club raised a hundred and two K in forty-eight hours, that's amazing." Pixie spoke up, boosting the moral in the room.

"Let's not forget tha' eighty-two k of tha' money was pulled in by our very own Daughter 'O' Anarchy." Chibs said fondly, wrapping his arms around Pixie to spin her around, Pixie giggled as he kissed her temple.

"I was just doing my job." Pixie said shyly.

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie and Half-Sack raced each other to the clubhouse and joked with each other as they set the drinks up and Half-Sack called some of the crow-eaters to say there was a little party starting up. As the other Sons came in at a leisurely pace, Pixie got their drinks orders and set up the snacks, watching as Juice hooked up his laptop to the stereo system so the Sons could request songs. Before long, the atmosphere was loud and jovial as the Sons danced, played pool, darts and talked with the crow-eaters who came to visit. As Pixie collected up the first round of empty beers, large, strong hands grabbed her hips as Tig pulled Pixie back up against him, kissing the curve of her neck and shoulder.

"Hey, you." Pixie smiled up at him, kissing his cheek.

"You shouldn't be working, come dance with me."

"I'm a prospect, Tiggy."  
"A prospect who's been working her sexy little butt off this week, you can have a break, baby." Tig crooned, kissing up Pixie's neck, loving how she squirmed up against him.

"Okay, fine, one dance, then I need to get the next round of beers going." Pixie caved, smiling as Tig grabbed her hand and towed her across the club to the dance floor. The song 'I Was Made For Lovin' You' by 'Kiss' came on and Pixie did a little jump of excitement as Tig started swaying to the beat, watching Pixie dance and swing her hips, her eyes sparkling happily as she watched him. Tig put his hands on her waist and Pixie reached up to loop her hands around his neck, giggling when Tig lifted Pixie up to put his boots under her feet so they were a little closer in height and he had an excuse to hold her close. Pixie started singing along to the song for Tig, knowing he loved her voice, laughing when he wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively when she sang the chorus to him. When the song ended, Pixie tried to pull away from Tig, giggling when he wouldn't let go, holding her up against him and pouting.

"I've got to get back to work, handsome." She pleaded with him. "I'm not gonna earn my top rocker by dancing."

"But I wanna spend time with my baby." Tig nuzzled her, swaying to the music.

"How about, you let me work now, and then I'll give you a _special_ dance when we go back to your place."

" _Our_ place." Tig corrected. "I like the sound of that though, just don't tease me before then or you're gonna be in trouble." Tig growled into Pixie's ear, igniting the butterflies in her stomach.

"Honey, I _am_ trouble." Pixie winked before slipping out of his arms. Tig groaned at the way she'd looked at him, watching as Pixie sashayed away, knowing he'd be watching her as she went back to clear up the empty bottles and take beer around to the Sons. Whilst Pixie was working, Cherry bounded up to her with a smile.

"Hey gurl." She greeted. "Need a hand?"

"Sure, if you want, how are you doing?" Pixie smiled warmly, kind of glad that she didn't have to crane her neck up to look at Cherry, seeing as they were the same height.

"Good, I'm fully moved into Kip's place, it's so much fun, it's like living with my best friend." Cherry gushed.

Pixie's heard melted. "That's adorable! Both you and H deserve happiness and love." Pixie said sincerely. "Do me a favour and cheer him up a little tonight, he got a roasting earlier for stealing an ambulance, he was telling me about it when we were setting up." Pixie explained.

Cherry raised an eyebrow. "He did what?" Pixie giggled and filled her in on the club's adventures that day as they went around the room together collecting and distributing drinks for the Sons. Cherry laughed at the way Pixie phrased things and found herself warming to Pixie more so than she had before. Once they'd satisfied the Sons for the moment, Cherry pulled Pixie to the dance floor. "Can you teach me some moves, I have two left feet, and I kinda wanna impress Kip a bit." She confessed, gesturing to where Half-Sack was wiping down a spilled drink.

"Sure, the main thing is just to have fun, if you're not enjoying the dance, it'll look clunky and robotic, so let yourself relax." Pixie said gently, putting her hands on Cherry's shoulders to push them back so she relaxed her posture. "Copy me." Pixie smiled, starting to sway her hips, putting her knees together and doing a little dip as she ran her hands up her torso and into her hair, Cherry smiled as she copied Pixie and they started dancing and joking together. Before long they were laughing and twirling around, still dancing as they carried on doing prospect duties, chattering away and comparing stories from their past. Pixie warmed to Cherry's boldness and the way she carried herself confidently, and her give-no-shit attitude. Pixie promised to teach her some self-defence when they had a spare day to hand and they made plans to have a girl's day out, Cherry being stunned that Pixie had never had a manicure before, or had ever gone to a spa. Pixie was excited to have a new female friend, as even though she loved hanging around the guys, there were some things she missed, like being able to talk about fashion and feminine things without receiving the blank looks that she usually got off of the guys

Pixie and Cherry were sweeping up a smashed bottle that Bobby had accidentally knocked when he'd gotten a little _too_ enthusiastic with a crow-eater. The song "Poison" by Alice Cooper on and they sang along together, realising that their voices harmonised really well, and that they had a similar taste in music. When it finished, Cherry grabbed Pixie's hands. "Gurl, you've got a really good voice! You should sing for the Sons."

Pixie blushed a little. "I do have a song in mind for them, but I dunno." Pixie said shly.

"What song?" Cherry probed, searching for Juice in the crowd.

"It's 'Brother' by 'NEEDTOBREATHE'." Pixie confessed.

Cherry's face lit up. "Oh my gosh! I know that song, that's _perfect_ for you and the Sons, I can see how much you love them."

Pixie giggled. "Thanks, Cher." Cherry towed Pixie across the club before Pixie could stop her, searching for Juice. She found him chatting to a Crow-Eater near the bar, he looked up when Cherry and Pixie approached, raising an eyebrow.

"You okay, girls?" He greeted.

"We need to borrow your tech skills." Cherry grinned. "Pixie wants to sing a song for the club."

Juice looked excited. "Hell yeah, I love hearing you sing, kiddo." He beckoned them over to where he'd stationed his laptop and he and Cherry started fiddling around, finding the backtrack for the song. When they'd sorted it, Pixie felt butterflies in her stomach at the prospect of performing again, she used to do it regularly at club functions back in Highton, but Charming seemed to be much more relaxed about their entertainment. She asked Cherry to act as back up vocals for the chorus and to help harmonise.

"I'll be your hype girl." Cherry grinned as they climbed on top of the central pool table whilst Juice turned the music down to get the crowd's attention.

"Hey guys!" Pixie called out as the Sons turned to see what Pixie and Cherry were up to. "Cherry and I were talking, and I wanna sing a song for you guys, it's one I've had on my mind since I started putting my roots down here, and getting to know you all. You guys are my crazy family and I love and care about every single one of you, you're all my brothers, and we're all in this together." Pixie explained, seeing the Sons smile and Tig blow her a kiss. Juice put the music on and Pixie started to sing her heart out, putting meaning behind every single lyric as she danced a little with Cherry as they harmonised for the choruses. Pixie's heart was beating in her chest, but in the best way possible, performing always gave her the same rush as riding her motorcycle did, and it helped convey all of her thoughts and feelings out, how she'd do anything to protect the Sons. When the song ended, the club erupted in whistles and claps as Pixie and Cherry did little comical bows. Cherry jumped off the table into Half-Sack's arms as he gushed over her performance. Pixie giggled when Tig moved through the crowd too and put his arms out for her to jump too. He kissed her cheek and swung her around.

#  **NEEDTOBREATHE: "Brother (feat. Gavin DeGraw)" | Lyrics:**

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRSLz_KgUsM&list=PLwxgjt4pNZu7spwpP7qWlLVs83Z3fGl7H&index=229](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRSLz_KgUsM&list=PLwxgjt4pNZu7spwpP7qWlLVs83Z3fGl7H&index=229)

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	68. Home Comforts

**WARNING: Smut later in the chapter**

The party continued for another couple of hours until the Sons who all had pretty busy days, decided to call it a night. Pixie and Tig pulled into his driveway and wheeled their bikes into the garage before they walked up to the path together and Tig unlocked the front door. Once they'd hung up their kuttes and taken their boots off, Pixie grabbed Tig's hand and guided him into the den, switching on the light and gently pushing him down onto the sofa before straddling his lap.

"What're you up to, baby?" Tig crooned as his hands went to her hips.  
"I'm making good on what I said this morning, I wanna take care of you today, seeing as how you've been taking really good care of me, and also how I made you mad earlier." Pixie finished with a guilty look on her face.

"Hey, I'm over that now, and even though I wanna wrap you up in cotton wool and keep you safe and all to myself, I also know you're a kick-ass kinda gal who pretty much saved this club's ass this week."

Pixie smiled and kissed Tig's cheek. "I'm glad you understand. I'm gonna get you a beer, and then I want you to stay put, relax and watch TV whilst I make dinner, okay? Tonight's all about you."

"What've you got planned?" Tig hugged her closer, kissing Pixie's neck. Pixie realised that as much as Tig wanted to relax, he had to know what she was up to, otherwise his need for control would flare. "I'm gonna cook you dinner, then we can watch a movie or have a bath, depending on what you want, then I'll dance for you like I promised, then we'll go to bed where the real fun will begin." Pixie purred, running her fingers down the V shaped neckline of Tig's shirt.

"Sure we can't have some fun now?" Tig growled, hands snaking under Pixie's top, she caught them and gently tugged them away.

"We need to eat first, or you'll get grumpy, mister." Pixie nuzzled her nose against Tig's and he sighed.

"I hate it when you're right." Tig pretended to huff as Pixie wriggled off of him. "Can I come see what you're making for dinner or is it a surprise?"

"Surprise, handsome, watch TV, that storage wars thing you like should be on." Pixie blew him a kiss before going into the kitchen and shutting the door behind her for good measure. Pixie set to work finding all the ingredients for the bacon mac'n'cheese dish she was making from scratch and the freshly baked rocky road brownies for dessert. Whilst it was cooking, she grabbed Tig a beer and went back into the den, he looked up immediately from where he'd tucked himself up on the plush brown couch with a red cushion hugged to his chest.

"Thanks, baby doll." He smiled as Pixie stroked through his curls.

"Where do you wanna eat, Tiggy? In here or in the kitchen?"

Tig yawned and stretched like a sleepy dog. "Here? There's trays in the kitchen in a box under the island if that helps."

"It does." Pixie nodded watching the way Tig's hands stroked the cushion contently. He was like her in that respect, never quite still, hands always fiddling or moving in some way.

When the food was done, Pixie put the mac 'n' cheese into bowls with the crispy bacon slices on top for decoration, seeing as there were also bacon bits in the sauce and carried Tig's tray in first. His face lit up at the sight of food and then when he saw the bowl he got excited.

" _You_ are way too good for me, darlin'." He grinned. "How'd you know this was my favourite?"

"Bobby told me." Pixie smiled. "I'll be back with my helping of it and the freshly baked rocky road brownies too."

Tig's eyes went wide. "You didn't."

"Oh, I did." Pixie grinned, silently thanking Bobby for giving her the heads up on Tig's all time favourite dessert. She brought the food through with a drink for her and they ate together on the couch watching "Beetlejuice" and laughing and the ridiculousness of it whilst cuddling up together. When neither Pixie nor Tig could eat any more, she tidied the dishes away and came back to take Tig into the bathroom, deciding on showering together to wash away the day and to ease up their muscles. Pixie made Tig stand with his back to her whilst she washed and massaged it, watching as Tig visibly relaxed under her touch and listened to his hums of pleasure.

"Those little hands of yours are magic." Tig growled, his voice content.

"Oh yeah?" Pixie purred. "Wanna turn round so I can do your front?" She giggled at how quickly Tig spun around eagerly, pulling her to him for a kiss before she wriggled out from his grip and set to work running the bubbly flannel over his torso and worked out all the tension and stiffness in his muscles. As Pixie got lower, Tig growled lustily as his member began to take interest in her ministrations.

"Mmm babe." Tig pulled Pixie closer nuzzling her neck.

"Tiggy! I haven't finished yet." Pixie playfully complained.

"But I've got something else that's feelin' a little stiff." Tig argued back with a cheeky eyebrow wiggle.

"I wouldn't exactly call that thing 'little'." Pixie played along, making Tig laugh as he ran his hands down Pixie's body and she hummed under his touch and wriggled against him.

"I want you, baby, so bad." Tig growled.

"Oh yeah?" Pixie asked him, kissing a trail across his chest.

"Mmhmm, since I saw you dancing at the party, you move so sexily." Tig grunted as Pixie slid her hand between them and grasped his cock, stroking it in the way she knew sent him wild.

"Thought that would get your attention, I could feel you watching when I was dancing with Cherry." Pixie smiled.

"Were you trying to tease me? Hm?" Tig growled.

"Not intentionally, but getting you all riled up is an added bonus." Pixie said, swirling her thumb across the head of Tig's cock. He shivered and grabbed her, slamming his hand on the stop button for the shower before moving out of the stall and bending Pixie over the counter top next to the sink. The rough handling sent tingles through Pixie's body, she felt excited whenever this side of Tig came out.

"You've been such a naughty little kitten today." Tig's voice was low and gravelly with lust as he kissed up Pixie's spine, bending over her to bite at her shoulder and neck, making Pixie squirm and mewl with excitement and need.

"Only 'coz you love it." Pixie gasped out as she felt Tig's hands roughly knead her ass and his hard on pressing against her thighs. She tried to wriggle under him and Tig put a firm and on the back of her neck.

"Where are you off to, hm?"

"I want you." Pixie moaned as Tig swirled a finger over her clit and then went down to her entrance, gently dipping a finger in before taking his hands away and spanking Pixie's ass. She let out a little squawk of surprise at the sharp sting, feeling another strike, then Tig kissed the skin there. "Tiggy!" Pixie moaned, feeling heat pooling in her lower abdomen.

"I want you to call me something else." Tig growled, leaning over to kiss the shell of Pixie's ear.

"Sergeant?" Pixie hummed tentatively, she was rewarded by Tig's hands returning to her folds, her fingers sliding against the smooth surface of the counter top as she searched for something to hold onto as she felt the waves of pleasure mount over her.

"That's a good little kitten." Tig crooned, loving the way his words seemed to make Pixie shiver, little needy noises emanated from her lips as she found herself rocketing towards an orgasm, he felt her clench around his fingers, her insides trembling as she went over the edge, he helped her ride it out, kissing her lower back and soothing over the aftershocks. When she was done, Tig lined up his member and slid inside, feeling the delicious warmth accompanied by Pixie's ecstatic moans of 'Sergeant'. His hips seemed to take on a life of their own as he thrusted rough and hard, working out all the day's frustrations and worries and aggro, feeling his world become smaller and smaller until his mind could only focus on the present.

"Oh! So good!" Pixie gasped out, her eyes almost crossing, Tig's hands were vice-like on her hips, grounding the pair of them.

"Yeah!" Tig grunted, continuing the brutal pace, toying with Pixie's clit again whilst his other hand went back to her neck, feeling possessive and protective over Pixie. She was everything he'd ever dreamed of and more, he loved her more than he'd loved anything in his entire life, and he knew Pixie felt the same way too, that fact overwhelming him in this moment, feeling so loved and treasured by her.

"Mmmpf. Love you." Pixie whimpered out, as if she were echoing his thoughts. Her words sent him over the edge and Tig came with one last erratic thrust, curling over Pixie and hugging her body to him as he felt her reach her second orgasm.

When Tig could find enough brain power to form words again, he reciprocated Pixie's words. "I love you too, baby, always." He murmured into her shoulder.

"You think we could snuggle maybe not on a counter? I'm a little squished." Pixie giggled.

Tig realised he'd been resting his full weight on Pixie let out a laugh and stood up, scooping Pixie up in his arms. "Sorry, baby, I think you short-circuited me."

"Glad I could help." Pixie kissed him and then shivered. "Shower to warm up and get clean, then upstairs, tough guy."

"Oh, you're giving orders now?" Tig teased.

☠️☠️☠️

Tig wasn't sure if his muscles were even solid at this point, but he didn't care, he was too blissed out, laying face down on the bed whilst Pixie massaged his back. Guns 'N' Roses were playing in the background with Pixie humming along as she worked the moisturiser into his skin. Tig had never really been one for having personal attention other than blowjobs prior to meeting Pixie, but he was quickly discovering that he'd been seriously missing out. Pixie kissed the side of his face and giggled.

"Anyone home?"

"No, my brain cells are somewhere in the shower downstairs." Tig mumbled back, growling as Pixie stroked up his spine, though to Pixie's ears, the growl sounded more like a purr.

"Good, you don't need 'em tonight." Pixie soothed, smiling at how relaxed and cosy Tig was. She moved off of him and lower down the bed to start massaging his legs. Tig opened an eye.

"Come back." He pouted at her.

"You're back's all loosened up, I need to do your thighs." Pixie argued with a giggle.

"But my back's my favourite spot." Tig huffed, trying to roll enough to make a grab for Pixie.

"I know, handsome, but your legs look tight and I don't want you getting stiff and sore tomorrow." She explained, then grinned. "Besides, I thought there was another part of your body that was your favourite thing for me to put my hands on."

"Cheeky." Tig grunted, giving up on moving and putting his face down on his forearms, feeling Pixie's hands on his thighs as she rubbed in the lotion and caressed the muscles there.

"That feel good?" Pixie soothed, going up towards Tig's ass, smiling at the crescent dog bite scar on his cheek. "Least this has healed up good."

"Shame I didn't turn into a were-doberman." Tig joked.

Pixie giggled at the reference. "You're pretty wild and unruly already, you don't need more crazy DNA."

"Cheeky strike two, one more and I'm tickling you." Tig warned with a chuckle.

"Meanie." Pixie muttered under her breath as she went to massage his calm muscles. Tig heard her and flipped over and up, grabbing Pixie and throwing her down on the bed.

"You wanna repeat that, little miss?" Tig raised an eyebrow, kissing Pixie's cheek.

"Nah, I'm good." Pixie teased, wrapping her legs around Tig's waist.

"Hm, I don't think you are." Tig ran his hands along Pixie's sides, taunting her.

"I am, I swear." Pixie giggled trying to capture his hands.

"Somehow, I don't believe that." Tig grinned, tickling her until Pixie was gasping and squealing, then he rolled them so he was on his back and had Pixie laying on top, hugging her to him.

"You want me to do your front?" Pixie asked him, stroking Tig's chest.

"Nah." Tig murmured, moving his hands through Pixie's curls.

"What would you like then, hm?" She asked him, sitting up a little so she could see Tig's face, he looked exhausted and blissed out, his pupils blown wide and unfocused. Tig didn't answer, just shrugged and carried on stroking Pixie's hair until she wriggled out of his grip, crawling up the bed and pulling the duvet back and turning on the bedside light. "Get under the covers, Tiggy." She told him, hopping over to the bedroom door, closing it and turning off the light, then hopping back and under the duvet too. Tig tried to reach for her to pull her to his chest, but Pixie stopped him, instead making him roll the other way so he had his back to her. She then curled up around him as best she could, then began kissing and caressing his back soothingly, whispering sweet nothings and singing along to the Guns 'N' Roses songs playing in the background.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	69. Sketches & Skateboards

Pixie woke up to the ringtone of her phone at the same time as Tig, she grabbed it off of the nightstand as Tig sat up and pulled Pixie into his lap, brow furrowed in a silent question of who was ringing Pixie this early in the morning.

"Jackie boy? What's up?" Pixie answered, smiling at Tig as he rolled his eyes and huffed at the fact it was Jax.

"Nothin' much, thought I'd bug ya'. I miss havin' breakfast with you."

"Really?" Pixie giggled. "Well we got cereal over here, though I'm gonna take a wild guess and say Ope told you 'bout the pancakes I made him and the guys yesterday and you want some?"

"Guilty as charged." Jax laughed. "That okay?"  
"Bring bacon, eggs and mini marshmallows and be here in about an hour." Pixie told him.

"You're the best!" Jax cheered before he hung up.

"What did he want?" Tig huffed.

"Jealous, Tiggy?" Pixie teased, kissing him hard to show she was his. "Jax just wanted to come for breakfast, think he probably wants to talk."

"But I want you all to myself." Tig growled, hands roaming Pixie's body, squeezing her ass for a second before going up to caress her breasts.

"You got me all to yourself last night, handsome." Pixie snuggled against his neck kissing him there.

"I didn't get my dance." Tig suddenly recalled.

"'Coz you were falling asleep." Pixie giggled. "What was I supposed to do, dance for your snoring body?"

"I don't snore." Tig growled.

"Only when you lie on your right side you do, I usually push you onto your back and then you're fine again." Pixie grinned. "That is if I can move, sometimes you grab onto me and hold me against your chest and pin me there."

Tig laughed. "Sorry doll, I'm probably just trying to keep you out of mischief."

"If you still want me to give you a dance, we have time before we need to hop in the shower?" Pixie offered, nuzzling her nose against Tig's.

His face lit up. "Oh hell yeah, baby." Tig smiled.

"You wanna dance with me, or do you want a lap dance?" Pixie asked him, squirming as Tig's hands ran up her sides and over the ticklish points on her skin.

Tig kissed and nibbled at her shoulder. "Lap dance? I love it when you dance like that just for me." He growled.

Pixie felt the butterflies in her stomach rumble to life and she grinned, wriggling off of his lap and putting her prosthetic leg on before she padded over to Tig's wardrobe, hunting for one of his button down shirts, finding his favourite dark blue one and slipped it on. Tig watched her, eyes hungrily following her movements as Pixie sashayed over to his CD stack and hunted for a certain album.

"I knew you'd have this." Pixie giggled pulling out Kiss' 'Smashes, Thrashes & Hits' album and holding it up for Tig before putting the CD in and taking the Guns 'N' Roses one that had been in there previously out. Whilst the CD was loading, Pixie went over to the chair Tig liked to put his clothes on, taking them off and setting it down in the center of the room where there was space. Tig got the hint and sat down, leg bouncing in anticipation as Pixie jumped the tracks searching for one in particular. He smirked when Pixie stopped on 'Let's Put The X In Sex', watching as she strutted over to him and the dance began.

☠️☠️☠️

After Pixie's dance, and the _very_ steamy shower that followed, Pixie dressed quickly in Black skinny jeans, a hot pink and black zebra striped spaghetti strap top, knee high lace up sneakers and a zip up black hoodie with a doodle of a monster on. She plaited her hair and put on Tig's cuff and one of her own with pink stars on, before skipping downstairs to start up the breakfast preparations. Tig got ready upstairs and pouted at the fact they had to cut their shower session short because Jax was on his way. Just as Pixie was about to mix the large bowl of pancake batter, she heard a motorcycle engine drive up the road towards the house. She jumped in excitement and ran to the door just as Jax pulled up.

"Yo, Pipsqueak!" Jax hollered as he took off his helmet. "Got the things you wanted."

Pixie smiled as she ran down the path and jumped up at Jax who caught her in a big hug, holding her tight. "I made a lot of pancake batter, so I hope you're hungry."

"I'm always hungry, kiddo." Jax grinned, carrying Pixie up the path. "Tig up yet?"

"Yeah, he's around somewhere." Pixie said as Jax set her down in the hall so he could take his kutte off. "Tiggy?" Pixie called up. "Jax is here."

"'Kay." Tig called back as Pixie beckoned Jax into the kitchen.

"Got to hold Abel for the first time last night." Jax grinned as he watched Pixie start to mix the batter together. He took off his satchel and emptied the bacon, eggs and marshmallows.

Pixie let out a little squeal of joy. "How was it?"

Jax couldn't help the goofy grin that came onto his face. "Amazing, man, he wasn't that heavy, and his skin was real soft too, he looked at me for a while, just starin'. His eyes are so blue."

Pixie smiled and patted Jax's hand. "Told you, you'd be a good dad. Do you feel more attached to Abel?"

"Yeah." Jax said with a gentle smile, ducking his head down and shoving his hands in his pockets. "The longer I held him the more I just felt that this little life in my hands, it's mine to care and protect, Abel's gonna depend on me, and I wanna be there for him. I love that little boy."

Pixie stopped whisking the batter to hug Jax. "That's amazing to hear! You're gonna take real good care of him." Pixie assured Jax.

"Thanks, kid. How much do you know about newborns?" Jax asked as Pixie heated up the frying pan.

"A bit, I'm not experienced with them, but I'm good with babies, why?"

"I wanna know more, but I don't wanna ask my mom or Anita."  
"Why's that?"  
"I dunno, I just feel more comfortable talkin' about this stuff with you."

"'Coz I don't judge?"

"Yeah, and you'll call me out on anything wrong, but in a nicer way than my mom will." Jax admitted.

Pixie giggled and pulled out a second frying pan out of the cupboard. "Come help me cook the bacon and eggs, and I'll tell you anything I can."

☠️☠️☠️

The delicious smell of breakfast brought Tig downstairs where he could hear Pixie and Jax laughing and joking with each other. He went into the kitchen to see Pixie and Jax holding a frying pan each and tossing a pancake in between them before Pixie put new batter in hers and Jax put the new pancake on the rising stack and added bacon to his pan.

"Looks like you've got a little production line goin'." Tig smiled at their antics, he still felt jealous over Jax and Pixie, but after last night, he felt more secure, and definitely loved.

"Best way to make breakfast." Pixie smiled. "You wanna set the table and get the drink goin'?"

"Sure, baby." Tig came up behind Pixie and put his hands on her waist, giving her a quick kiss.

"Do I get one?" Jax teased him.

Tig playfully slapped him upside the head. "That's what you get."

"Hey, I'm cookin' you bacon here, be grateful." Jax grinned.

"Oh! Please forgive me, you're bacon my heart." Tig quipped back clutching his chest melodramatically. Pixie laugh-snorted at the pun and made Jax laugh.

"Never heard you make that noise before." Jax grinned.

"Leave me be, Teller." Pixie stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh no, you got to rip into me for the past few days about my fight with Kohn, so now it's my turn, Piglet."

Pixie giggled and swatted at him. "That's even worse than 'Pipsqueak'."

"It matches Tig though, now you're Tigger and Piglet." Jax pointed out, grinning.

"It's kinda accurate, you do wear a lot of pink, and you're small, baby." Tig chuckled, watching as Pixie flipped her pancake into Jax's pan.

"Fine, but you're gonna be Winnie the Pooh." Pixie grinned up at Jax. "You're big, blonde, and always hungry."

Jax laughed. "I'll take that. I don't like honey though."

The three of them plated up the food and brought it to the table, tucking in to the morning feast and joking with each other. Once they were done, they washed up and then made their way to their bikes. As Pixie wheeled hers out and Tig closed up the garage, Jax came over and nudged her.

"We got some time on our hands, how 'bout we go through the back roads again?"

Pixie grinned. "Hell yeah." She turned to look at Tig. "Wanna come race with us?"

Tig grinned. "You're on, remember one-ten only."

"Spoilsport." Pixie stuck her tongue out at him and blew him a kiss before she put her helmet on and started up her bike whilst the other two did the same. She didn't wait for them, taking off as soon as she was ready knowing the boys would easily catch up. As she raced past one of the suburbs, she heard a rumble and Juice came out of the side road with a grin. Pixie pulled up her visor.

"Hey baby sis, where you off to?"

"Racing Jax and Tig, wanna join?"

"Oh yeah!" Juice cheered as Jax and Tig came round the bend just behind them. Pixie had an idea and turned down Chibs' road with the others following suit, sure enough a sleepy looking Chibs was in his driveway putting on his helmet, he grinned when he saw Pixie's flash of pink hotly pursued by the three Sons. He quickly started up his bike and joined the chase as Pixie wound through the roads looking for more familiar faces. By complete accident she found Bobby as he was lighting up a cigarette at a stop sign and suddenly found himself swamped by his outlaw brethren. He followed them as Jax made it to the front and signalled for them to follow him to Opie's place and then on to Clay's, collecting them both and Half-Sack who was drawn out upon hearing the roaring of the motorcycles. With all of the Charming sons together, they descended upon the quiet open roads to ride around and enjoy being out in the open. Pixie found herself next to Chibs, who was grinning madly due to riding with his brothers, something that always lifted his spirits. Pixie matched his speed and took her hands off the handlebars, putting her arms out and feeling the wind, she looked over to Chibs to see him balance himself and put his arms out too, matching her. 

They enjoyed the moment of being totally free together before Pixie manoeuvred out from the pack and sped up past Clay, giving him a cheeky wave before doing some of her tricks to entertain her brothers. Jax caught up to her and the two of them sped down the road trying to outpace each other before Juice managed to catch up and Pixie pulled up into a wheelie, knowing he loved seeing that. Half-Sack surprised everyone when Pixie slowed to let him catch up with her and he promptly stood up on his bike with an excited grin, finally able to show Pixie the trick he knew. Pixie gave him a thumbs up, watching his form carefully and stood up too. Then the group finally stormed through Charming and then into the parking lot, they were all in high spirits and psyched up after their relaxed and informal riding session. It made a change from the usual strict formation they did whilst out on business and it was rare, especially in the past few months where everything had been hectic and busy, that the Sons got to ride together just for the hell of it. When everyone dismounted, Pixie made a point of hugging everyone hello to make sure everyone felt included and she had a chance to check in and see where everyone's heads were at.

"What's on the cards for today, boss man?" Pixie asked as she hugged Clay.

"Garage work, we need to catch up on the back log, and hope to god nothin' else goes to shit between now and tonight." Clay informed her.

"Well, I got my finger's crossed." Pixie smiled. "My shift isn't until later, so I'm gonna go tidy the clubhouse because I'm sure you guys left a right mess after last night."

"I'll come give you a hand." Half-Sack grinned stepping forwards and then bending down a little for Pixie to hop onto his back, which she did with a giggle. The others watched the prospects head inside with amusement on their faces.

"Where you do think Pixie's at with her prospect-ship?" Bobby asked Clay as he handed him a cigarette.

Clay shrugged. "On the one hand, she pulled in eighty-two K for the club almost single-handedly, she keeps this place running and she's got fire. On the other, she's loud, impulsive and chaotic."

"Sounds like a Son to me." Jax grinned.

Inside, Pixie and Half-Sack were assessing the state of the clubhouse after Half-Sack sert her down. Pixie had thought she'd done a pretty good job keeping the mess to a minimum with Cherry, but it looked like some of the Sons who stayed later after Pixie left, decided to have more fun. There were pool balls all over the floor, various articles of female clothing and empty beer bottles, cans and snack wrappers on every flat surface.

"Hoo boy, this is gonna take a while." Pixie sighed, looking up at Half-Sack.

"Yup, we're messy herberts." Half-Sack grinned. "Did I use that right?"

"Yeah." Pixie giggled. "I'll go get a wet cloth and start wiping the bar down, do you wanna start corralling the pool balls?"

"Sure, can you grab me a broom whilst you're down there? I'll start sweeping up the floor." Half-Sack asked, Pixie nodded and sauntered over to the utility room, getting the items she needed. The pair set to work, making good progress whilst dancing along to Bon Jovi. As Pixie attacked a particularly tough sticky spot on the bar with her damp cloth, she suddenly felt a presence behind her before she was grabbed around her waist and lifted up. Pixie let out a squeak of panic before she saw the tattooed arms and heard the deep chuckle.

"Got you." Happy grinned. "Payback for when you scared me awake."

"Happy!" Pixie squealed as he set her down so Pixie could hug him properly. "You just woken up?" She asked him, taking in his bare torso and grey sweatpants.

"Yeah, kinda hard to sleep through 'Livin' On A Prayer'."

Pixie wrinkled her nose. "Sorry, bud, H and I are almost done cleaning the clubhouse."

Happy nodded looking around the almost immaculate clubhouse. "Good work, coffee?"

"Not currently doing any, but if you give me five minutes I can fire up the machine?"

"Ten, I'm gonna shower." Happy told her.

"Rodger, see you in a bit." Pixie said with a goofy wave before moving behind the bar. "H? You want coffee?"

"Totally, hey, are you on a shift this afternoon"  
"Yeah bud, wanna buddy up on the cars?"

Half-Sack grinned and nodded. "Yup, I love working with you, we might be able to get through the backlog quicker."  
"Aw, thanks brother, I love working with you too, whether it's burying assholes or fixing cars, we make a good team." Pixie grinned, making Half-Sack laugh at the reference. "Hopefully we can shift all the cars today, I'm not really a fan of working overtime, but I'll do what it takes to get TM back on track." Pixie thought aloud as she poured several mugs of coffee knowing the other Sons would want some too. Happy emerged looking more awake and carrying an A3 sketchpad. He grabbed a mug and sat down at the bar.

"Arm, gimme." He beckoned to Pixie.

"S'cuse me?" Pixie giggled, not sure if she'd heard him right. She walked round the bar nevertheless and Happy grabbed her right arm putting it down on the sketch pad palm-side up and traced round in with a biro. "Can I have an explanation?" Pixie said watching him.

"Trying to get the correct sizing for your tattoo."

"My what?" Pixie asked him.

"Bruce." Happy said simply. The light bulb went off in Pixie's head.

"Oh! I'm with you now." Pixie laughed as Happy finished tracing and shooed her arm off of his page. Pixie went to her backpack and pulled out her sketchpad, tearing out the page with Bruce's tribute motorcycle tattoo. She looked at it for a second, feeling the pain of missing her dad. It was the little things, more than anything, like the way he'd nudge her rib cage if they were sat together, silently checking in with her, or the way he'd hold his cigars and the deep roar of his laugh.

"You miss him?" Half-Sack said gently, putting an arm around Pixie's shoulders, she jumped for a second, not realising he was so close before letting Half-Sack bring her in for a hug.

"Yeah, most of the time everything's so busy round here I got no time to, but sometimes it creeps up on me that he isn't gonna just turn up and walk through the doors, and that none of my Highton brothers are ever gonna call me again or come find me. It doesn't always sink in that they're gone." Pixie said sadly.

"I get you. I miss my old Iraq buddies, five of those guys that I served with were my closest friends, and they didn't come home. I miss hearing their stories and their jokes."

Pixie hugged Half-Sack tighter, feeling closer to him and realising he understood to an extent. "It never gets easier, but we get stronger. You're making them proud, H."

"We do, and thanks kid." Half-Sack nodded as Pixie pulled away. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here."

Me too, bud." Pixie smiled, bringing the sheet over to Happy.

"Lost a Tacoma brother in a road accident." Happy said gruffly. "Ten years and I still expect to see him when I walk into the clubhouse back there."

Pixie was silent for a second, taken aback that Happy opened up to her. She put her arms around him and held him tight. He pulled Pixie up and into his lap, taking comfort in her as much as she was in him. "At least he went out doing something he loved. I think you're makin' him proud too." Pixie snuggled her face into the crook of his neck for a second before sitting up. "Get over here, H." Pixie beckoned him over. Half-Sack stumbled but came over, surprised that he was included and eyed Happy warily. Happy looked at Pixie and then at Half-Sack and stuck an arm out, grabbing the back of Half-Sack's neck and pulled him into the group hug. Pixie hugged both brothers tightly feeling that they all needed it. Eventually they pulled away and Happy looked up at Half-Sack for a second before he turned the page on his sketchbook and grabbed half-Sack's arm, tracing around it too. Pixie decided to go get the others from the garage to come and get their coffee, so she wandered outside, spotting Jax's old skateboard propped up against one of the benches. She tentatively put her left foot on and pushed off with her prosthetic picking up speed before she pulled her leg up, focusing on her balance as she carefully put her prosthetic foot down, trying not to shift the board. Pixie heard a yell and she looked up to see Jax grinning as he watched her come up the lot. He jogged over and caught Pixie just as the board hit a dip and Pixie over-corrected her stance and went over sideways.

"I almost had it!" Pixie grinned up at him.

"I'm impressed, Piglet." Jax grinned as Pixie stuck her tongue out at him.

"I made coffee for everyone in the clubhouse." Pixie told him, looking past Jax and realising that Chibs was sat on the hood of the ambulance. "Thought you were shifting that, Chibbie."

"I was, but then I forgot an' drank _way_ too much ta be drivin' a stolen vehicle through tha' streets 'o' Charmin'." He said a little sheepishly.

Pixie giggled. "It's a good thing Clay likes you then, if me or H did that he'd have turned us into speed bumps."

"No, I'd have buried you both out on forty-four." Clay grinned coming out of the office. Jax and Chibs grunted at him in amusement and disdain. "What? Too soon?"

"Just a smidge." Pixie said sarcastically. "Have you ever used a skateboard, Chibbie?"

Chibs grinned and slid off of the hood. "Once or twice." walked over to where Jax had stopped the board, setting up and then taking off effortlessly down the lot much to the shock and excitement of the others.

"Did you know he could do that?" Pixie asked Jax.

"No?" Jax chuckled, watching as Chibs did a kickflip, landed and steered the board towards the clubhouse as if it was the most casual thing in the world. "We gotta ask him about this." 

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	70. Gemma Showdown

Later that day, Clay sauntered into the clubhouse in need of a beer and a cigar before his shift in the garage. As he strode past the pool tables, he noticed a pair of small black and pink boots waving gently in the air. Confused, Clay went for a better look, grabbing onto the left boot and pulling Pixie out from underneath. She squeaked in surprise, still holding onto the sketchbook she'd been drawing in whilst laying on her front under the table.

"Oh, hey Play-Doh, you need anything?" Pixie greeted.

"Just wondering what you're up to down there." Clay said squatting down to get a better look at the sketchbook, noticing that Pixie had his mugshot along with Jax's off of the wall and under the table with her, along with a couple of printed out photos of Jax and Abel, and a group shot of the guys smiling.

"It's a surprise for Gemma, a kind of peace offering." Pixie explained sliding the book across to Clay. He picked it up, smiling seeing how well Pixie had captured Jax and himself, she'd drawn Abel tucked into Jax's arm and Clay's hand was resting on Jax's shoulder, as though Jax was sitting down in front of Clay. There was a rough outline of a person next to Clay and she'd drawn it so Caly's arm was around the figure's shoulder.

"She's gonna love this when you're done." Clay nodded. "Good work, kid. You need a photo of Gemma?"

"Yeah, I meant to ask you when I set all this up, but got carried away." Pixie giggled. "Jax said you had a nice photo of Gemma in your desk drawer, and I was wondering if I could borrow it for this?"  
Clay nodded. "Be my guest, it's in the top right one, Gemma's on her way down, so I'd move this little operation into your room, just so she doesn't see."

Pixie gathered everything up into a stack. "Thanks for the heads up, I needed to get ready for my shift anyways, want me to get you a beer?"

"Nah, I'll sort it, you're on your break, aren't ya?"  
"Yeah, cleaned up the clubhouse, and my garage shift isn't until five minutes." Pixie explained, gathering everything up. "I think we're on together, aren't we?"

"Yeah, go get your work shirt on."

"It's more like a dress." Pixie joked as she went to her room, pleasantly surprised to have a calm gentle conversation with Clay. The only times they'd really spoken had been in Church, or during arguments and confrontations. Finding Happy wasn't in there for the moment, she hid all the drawing stuff away and changed into a pair of Juice's old jeans and her shirt before taking off her jewellery and heading out. Clay was waiting for her and the pair of them strode across the lot.

"How's Tig treating ya?" Clay grinned.

"Like a true gentleman, or as gentlemanly as a guy like Tig can get." Pixie joked, making Clay chuckle. "He's super protective and kind though, and we talk through any tense moments and take care of one another pretty well." She explained. "I know we're in a honeymoon stage at the minute, and no doubt this life is gonna sink its claws into us, but I do think this relationship is for the long haul, we've gone through so much drama and shit already and survived."

Clay nodded, liking Pixie's optimistic view and seeing how much she cared for Tig. "You're a good match, I wasn't sure and first, but I see the way you stand up to him when he gets into one of his moods, and the way he's able to talk sense into ya when you get into one of yours."

"Thanks, mate." Pixie nodded. "And here I thought I was never gonna be on the receiving end of your good side." Pixie joked.

Clay chuckled. "Hey, I have a heart, it's just deeply buried behind a bunch of crap, but it's in there somewhere."

Pixie giggled. "I'll have to start calling ya' 'Tin Man'." She joked. " _When a man's an empty kettle, he should be on his mettle, and yet I'm torn apart, just because I'm presumin', that I could be kind of human, if I only had a heart_." Pixie sang referencing the 'Wizard of Oz', She did a little dance around Clay as she sang and Clay couldn't help but laugh at her antics, playfully shoving her away as they neared the garage.

"Can't believe I'm sayin' this, but I think I prefer 'Play-Doh'." Clay grinned. "Least that one's less musical."

"You wound me, Clay? You don't care for my serenade?" Pixie clutched her heart, spinning as if she was going to go into a dead faint like a pantomime character.

"Get to work, prospect." Clay ordered, still laughing as he pushed Pixie off towards a red Volvo SUV.

Pixie giggled as she went over to Juice and Jax. "Hey guys."

"Am I high, or did I just see you and Clay laughing and getting along?" Juice grinned.

"Probably both." Jax smirked, playfully punching his arm. "What were you and Clay even talkin' about?"

"The thing I'm doing for Gemma and the fact that Clay was being nice to me, trust me, I found it just as weird as you guys." Pixie giggled. "I sang him a verse of the Tin Man's song from the 'Wizard of Oz'."

"You like that film don't ya?" Juice chuckled. "You've referenced it a couple of times."

"Yeah, it's one of my favourites." Pixie grabbed the tools she needed off of the bench and started assessing the red Volvo. "I know all the songs and even some of the choreographed dances, seen it performed a couple times too."

"We should watch it together sometime." Juice smiled, grabbing a tool and going onto his car with Jax. Pixie set to work and smiled when Half-Sack appeared out from the back to give her a hand. The Volvo was not a very healthy car, there were issues over the whole vehicle, but the owners were invested in it, so Pixie was willing to try and get up to scratch again so it could be usable. The two of them worked hard, bouncing ideas off of each other and slowly becoming covered in dirt and grease as they fixed it up. Tig came over to check on them once he was done with his Jeep Wrangler with a wonky steering system.

"Hey baby, you doin' okay?" Tig greeted putting his hands on Pixie's waist as she leant over the bonnet, standing on the step stool.

"Oh I'm fine thanks, how are you, honey?" Half-Sack answered with a grin as he shut the car's door, Tig threw an oil rag at him as Pixie giggled at them.

"I'm okay, Tiggy, still working on this old beast, there's a radiator leak and that fan belt looks like someone used it as a chew toy."

"That distributor does not look right either." Tig said leaning over and poking around. "Are we sure this guy really wants to keep the car, this thing's a rust bucket, he'd be better off just selling and getting a new one."

"Apparently said rust bucket has sentimental value, so the owner wants to keep." Pixie answered. "It looks well loved anyways, just not well maintained."

"Want me to check over the engine once you're done?"

"Yeah, please." Pixie smiled, giving Tig a quick kiss. "You okay?"  
"Yeah." Tig smiled leaning in close. "Still thinking about our little dance session this mornin'." He murmured in Pixie's ear, making her blush.

"Tiggy!" Pixie hissed, but she was smiling and there were definite butterflies in her stomach as she thought about the hungry way Tig's eyes had roamed over her body as she danced for him, swiftly followed by his hands as soon as he'd been allowed to touch her.

"Funny, that's almost how you said my name in the shower." Tig continued, making his voice low and only audible to Pixie, who's eyes anxiously flitted to where Half-Sack was fixing the back bumper. Tig chuckled as Pixie looked back up at him, putting his hands on her hips.

"Get back to work, Tiggy." Pixie scolded him playfully. "I need to get this car finished."

Tig pouted playfully before his eyes lit up as "Uptown Girl" by Billy Joel came on the stereo system in the garage and he lifted Pixie up and off of the step stool and onto the floor. "This song makes me think of you." Tig grinned, dancing with Pixie who giggled.

"Tiggy, I am the complete opposite of an uptown girl." She said blushing, but still allowed Tig to put his arm around her and lace his fingers through her other hand so they were in a closed ballroom position so he could sway side to side and playfully dance around.

"You might think that, but to me you'll always be my uptown girl." Tig smiled nuzzling his nose against hers, singing along as Pixie looked up adoringly at him. When the song ended, Tig reluctantly set Pixie back on her stool and gave her a quick kiss before going back to work. Half-Sack teased Pixie about it and the two of them bickered light-heartedly whilst they combed over the engine trying to find all the faults and fix them. Gemma sashayed into the garage to help Bobby in the office, kissing Clay on the way past and greeting the others. Clay followed her into the office and Pixie jumped off of the stool, stretching her back out as it was sore from being bent over the hood for so long. She wandered over to where Opie and Juice were assessing a car's engine and started to use the engine hoist attached to the metal rafters to pull it out so they could start looking over it in detail. As Juice lowered the chains there was a metal grating sound and it halted violently, the chain shaking. Opie grabbed it and heaved hard, then swore.

"Nope, the chain's stuck in the reel." He huffed, readjusting his beanie.

"Ladder?" Juice asked.

"Yup, dunno where it went though." Opie said looking around for it. Pixie wiped her greasy hands down on her shirt to make sure they weren't slippery and then jumped. Juice and Opie, hearing the chain rattle again, turned to see Pixie scaling the thick chains and working her way up to the rafters. "Pixie!" Opie said in surprise.

"What are you doing?" Juice exclaimed.

"Fixing the chain? This happened all the time back in the garage I worked at." Pixie said as she reached the top and manoeuvred so she could sit on the rafters, Chibs looked up and did a double take, seeing Pixie in the ceiling. They watched as Pixie angled herself on the rafters so she could hold on with her legs and lean down, inspecting the chain. "It jumped the reel track, the reel's edges are worn from use so there isn't much of a lip. Pixie said as she started investigating the reel. "Ope, pass me a screwdriver, I need to take the reel off, the chain's wedged real tight."

Opie grabbed one and jumped, using his height to pass it over to Pixie who grabbed it and set to work. Chibs couldn't take his eyes off of his kid hanging upside down from the rafters, and gave up working on the bike, instead coming over to make sure he and Opie were standing underneath Pixie just in case she slipped off. Eventually, Pixie managed to work the chain free and coiled it up on the rafter whilst she took the reel off and tossed it down to Chibs. She pulled herself up and lowered the chain down to Opie before she sat up again and looked at the rafter structure. She spotted Jax over in the corner next to a support pole, oblivious to the things around him as he worked on a back axle of a jeep. Juice saw the devilish grin on her face as she slid along the beams towards the back of the garage where Jax was situated. Juice nudged the others and they watched as Pixie silently made her way over and prepared to slide down the beam behind Jax. Just then, Clay sauntered out of the office and over to Jax, who stood up to greet him and the two began talking, taking no notice of Pixie as she slid down and tiptoed up behind them.

"How's this car comin' along?" Clay asked Jax.

"Pretty good, it's low on oil and this axle's rusting, but it's fixable."

"The owner's gonna stop by in about an hour to check up on it." Clay told him. Juice decided to help Pixie out with her prank.

"Pixie's free, you could get her to sort the oil whilst you focus on the axle?" He suggested, Jax and Clay nodded in agreement.

"Sure, I'd be happy to help." Pixie suddenly spoke up from right behind Jax and Clay. The two of them lurched forwards with surprised and shocked curses on their tongues. The garage erupted with laughter from the other Sons as Clay and Jax whipped around to see Pixie giggling.

"What?! How did you...?" Jax was the first to recover, looking at the corner where he'd been working, seeing no way Pixie could have possibly got behind him without him noticing.

"Magic." Pixie giggled as Clay made a grab for her, dodging him.

☠️☠️☠️

Gemma paced the office back and forth as she watched Clay and Pixie laughing and joking with each other as he checked over the car she'd been working on. Gemma had been able to tolerate it when Pixie had barely acknowledged Clay around the garage, but lately they were getting on better, Pixie had been making an effort to get Clay closer to her and Gemma was struggling to accept it, especially after what went down with Cherry. She was glad Bobby had gone off to make a phone call, so he wouldn't see her riled up like a jealous lioness. She hated feeling like this, but right now, she was hating how Pixie had her arms wrapped around Clay's neck, giggling about something in that cutesy way of hers. She would never admit that she struggled trusting Clay, they were a united front to everyone, but there was always doubt in her mind, and worry whenever another girl was around him. She'd been doubting herself a lot recently with her body starting to change and go through menopause. Even though Clay had assured her he was okay with it and he loved her, she was afraid he might start to stray onto greener pastures, and Gemma knew she had to be the lawnmower, if that's what it took to keep Clay with her.

Across the garage, Pixie was pleased with her and Half-Sack's work on the red Volvo, finally managing to get it fixed. Clay checked it over for her, pleased with how well she'd managed to get the engine running and Half-Sack's work with the suspension. He clapped Pixie on the back, laughing with she jumped up at him, wanting a hug instead. He watched Gemma leave the office and go into the break room to get a coffee refill. He nudged Pixie.

"Go get the _torch_ from my desk drawer, top right."

Pixie got the hint and darted into the office, she bent over the desk, opening the drawer and rifling through the papers before she found the photo of Gemma looking like an absolute goddess in a white sundress, laying on her back on the grass, smiling up at the photographer, presumably Clay. Pixie slipped the photo into her back pocket and looked for the torch as an excuse to bring out just in case Gemma caught on. She found a slim red one in the drawer, and just as she went to grab it, she heard quick footsteps and then the drawer slammed shut on her right hand as a furious looking Gemma appeared next to Pixie. Pixie felt the sharp stinging pain of her right index knuckle once again coming out of its socket under the loose bandage wrappings and she let out a pained yelp of surprise as she withdrew her hand, holding it up against her chest.

"Mother of kittens!" Pixie cursed as the pain intensified. "Gemma!"

"Well that oughtta teach you not to snoop." Gemma spat, although there was a moment of regret in her eyes as she took in the amount of pain Pixie was in.

"Snooping? What the actual fuck? I was getting the torch for Clay so he can check the car's engine!"

"You stay away from him! I saw you, practically drooling over him!"

Pixie scoffed, looking up as the Sons appeared in the doorway, wondering what all the shouting was about. "Me? Drooling over Clay? Get real, Gemma! He's my boss, we're friends and he's family to me, _that's it_!"

"You were practically throwing yourself at him!" Gemma accused.

"I was hugging him because he told me I did a good job on the car I was working on! Y'know, like a boss does?" Pixie defended herself.

"One compliment and you're throwing yourself at him, you're such a slut!" Gemma fought back, she knew she was acting crazy, but she was too far into the argument to back down now.

"Don't you dare fucking start with that bullshit, I'm with Tig, and you know that! The thought of Clay's dick disgusts me! That what you wanna hear?" Pixie yelled exasperatedly. There were some winces and murmurs from the Sons watching.

"Don't you dare insult my husband!" Gemma practically screamed, throwing herself at Pixie who vaulted the desk one handed to get away from her and to put some space between herself and the deranged woman.

"I don't get you, Gem, I have a fight with Clay, you yell at me, I act friendly and you freakin' break my hand, what do you want me to do?!"

"Leave him alone!"

"I can't! He's my boss and my president, I can't just pretend he doesn't exist!" Pixie pleaded with her. She saw Gemma's trembling hands, and the way her face was flushed with anger, but Gemma's eyes were wide and desperate, almost sad looking. "This is because you're scared of losing him, isn't it?" Pixie said calmly, the puzzle pieces fitting together in her mind.

"Don't you dare try and psychoanalyse me!" Gemma snapped. Pixie realised Gemma wasn't gonna calm down with the audience present so she walked over to the door, kicking the doorstop and swinging it shut on the crowd of Sons, locking it and making sure they couldn't peep through the blinds. Gemma watched her, wondering what Pixie was doing. Pixie then went over to the water cooler and got a drink, then sat down on the couch. "What are you doing?" Gemma asked.

"My throat hurts from all the yelling, so I'm having a drink." Pixie said casually. "Go get a drink and come sit down, let's talk this out like rational adults."

Gemma opened her mouth and shut it again, she was expecting Pixie to storm out, or throw the water at her, not sit down and suggest they have a chat. "I've got nothing to say to you."

"Well you had lots to say three seconds ago. Let's talk about that." Pixie's heart was hammering in her chest and she really wanted to lash out, but she knew she was going to have to be the bigger person and work out what Gemma was so afraid of. "It's just us in here, and the others can't hear us, so anything we say in here, stays in here, between us."

Gemma sat down in the desk chair behind the desk, folding her arms across her chest and refusing to speak.

"I don't blame you for being scared of losing Clay, he hasn't exactly been the most upstanding husband recently, and I don't think you deserve how he treats you. You're doing everything for this club, for your family, and for your marriage, yet he doesn't seem to see that. I see it though, and when you aren't yelling or trying to break my hand, I can see you're a beautiful, strong, independent woman who doesn't take any shit and isn't afraid to speak her mind." Pixie said honestly. "When I heard about what happened with Cherry and Clay, I felt furious for you, I really wanted to go give him a piece of my mind. Not because I pity you, or because I think you can't stand up for yourself, because I know firsthand," Pixie said holding up her injured hand jokingly, "that you're very much capable of defending yourself. I wanted to do it because I see how much you do around here, and I think it's awful that Clay just walks all over that."

Gemma shifted in her seat, seeing the compassionate side of Pixie come out. She wanted to give a snarky comeback, but Pixie's calm demeanour was causing her anger to ebb away.

Pixie, seeing the change in the older woman continued. "I do however, see how much you love and care for him, and how he does indeed have a loving side, but the only person who actually sees him with all his walls down is you. I've seen how he acts around other women, and whilst there is lust and other feelings, the only time I see his face light up and he visibly relaxes is when he sits down with you in the clubhouse or when you two talk together. He's yours, and you're his, no matter what happens. I think you just need to remind him of that fact." Pixie smiled, seeing Gemma's mouth turn up at the edges as she thought about Clay, a subconscious response to someone she loved truly. "Besides, I think you two are the only two people who can deal with each other when you get into your angry modes." Pixie giggled.

Surprising herself, Gemma laughed. "We fight like cat and dog, but in the end, we work it out every time." She said fondly. She processed everything Pixie had said, realising that Pixie really did have no ill intent, and that Gemma's unfounded response had been wildly uncalled for. "I see what you do around the club too, You keep the club running in a different way to me, but in a good way." Gemma said honestly. "You effortlessly bring them all together, I've never seen this club so united before, and the hygiene standard of the clubhouse has definitely gone up since you got here too." Gemma smiled.

Pixie's eyes went wide, completely taken aback by the compliment. "Th-thanks, Gemma."

Gemma smiled. "Don't look so surprised, I do have a nice, non-crazy side to me."

Pixie giggled. "Sorry, I just thought that you'd never actually come around to me."

"It's taken me a while, but I do see why everyone's taken to you so well, I have from the start, but sometimes I get a little..."

"Carried away?" Pixie supplied.

"I was going to say 'bitchy', but that's a nicer way of putting it." Gemma chuckled.

"I'll admit I've been a little standoffish too, so if there is anything I've said that genuinely has hurt you, I'm really sorry, Gem." Pixie said honestly.

"I'm sorry too." Gemma nodded, standing up and coming over to the couch. "Did I hurt your hand badly? I kinda flew into a rage on you."

"It's okay, I think you just dislocated the knuckle again, I'll get Chibs to pop it back and re-bandage it." Pixie assured her, patting the older woman's knee.

Now they were both calmer, the two women began talking about their lives and experiences, getting to know each other better and talking through their issues. They spend a while just sat in the office and Pixie started to really like Gemma, she hoped the relationship would continue to improve, and Gemma began to take a strong liking to Pixie, seeing how smart and kind and silly she was, and she saw some of herself in Pixie, especially in her strong-willed nature and her wild spirit. As an hour passed, the Sons in the garage began to grow worried, they'd heard shouting and then after Pixie had shut the door, it had gone silent apart from the muffled voices. Chibs went over to Tig, Jax and Juice who were loitering by the office door.

"Wha' do ye think they're doin' in there?" He asked them.

"Hopefully just chatting and not killing each other." Jax answered. "I hope Pixie's alright, anyone see what happened to her to yell like that?"

"Gemma slammed her hand in the desk drawer." Juice replied. "It was an accident, Pixie didn't see Gemma until it was too late."

Chibs cursed. "Which hand?"

"The right one, with the bandage."

"Shite, she'll have popped the knuckle again." Chibs ran a hand through his hair. "Get tha' door open, if tha wee lass doesn't get tha swellin' down, it'll take longer to fix her knuckle." Chibs ordered, feeling his dad instincts coming into play. 

Jax rapped on the door with fist. "Mom? Pix? Open up!" He called through the door. Clay came back from his smoke break upon hearing Jax's shout.

"They still in there?" He called back.

"Yup." Juice confirmed as the door unlocked and Gemma appeared with her arm around Pixie's shoulders. Pixie's right hand was resting in a mug full of cold water.

"Hi boys." Gemma greeted.

"We're okay." Pixie smiled. "Hey, Gem, I'll email you that recipe for butter pie, Clay'll love it."

"Don't forget the one for the rocky road brownies too, if that won't get his motor runnin' I dunno what will." Gemma joked, looking affectionately down at Pixie, both women looked up at the crown of startled and bemused Sons, who were completely shocked by the fact that Gemma and Pixie were now acting as if they'd been best of friends all along.

"Okay, I _have_ to be high, what happened in there that got you two finally talkin'?" Juice asked.

"We just hashed it out like ladies." Pixie smiled. "Not everything has to come to blows in order for the issue to be solved."  
"And what issue was that?" Clay asked, smiling at his wife. Pixie and Gemma exchanged a glance, and Gemma nodded her approval of whatever Pixie was about to say.

"That you're a bit of a prat." Pixie said, making Gemma chuckle. "And you need to do some serious grovelling, because Gemma is an amazing wife and you'd know that if you actually thought with your brain and not your balls." Pixie told him, there was a brief pause and the clubhouse erupted in laughter for the second time that day.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	71. Cammy Hayes

** WARNING: Mention of blood and gore at the start and end of the chapter **

After the talk with Gemma, Chibs rounded up Pixie and had a good look at her hand before he was happy that everything was intact, the joint was just out of place again.

"We're gonna have ta' get this in again, darlin'." Chib told her, watching as Pixie's face scrunched in anticipation of the intense pain it would cause. "Clubhouse, now."

Pixie pouted but started walking, Chibs spotted Juice and whistled to get his attention, nodding towards Pixie's retreating figure. Juice finished taking off his work shirt and jogged after Pixie who was gingerly wiping her hand down with a towel.

"Hey baby sis." He put an arm around her, seeing how red and swollen her hand was. There was a purple bruise going along her base knuckles in a straight like where the drawer had crushed them. "Your hand hurting?"

"Yeah, Chibs' gonna have to reset it again. I hate it, looks like I was bloody close to having a broken hand." Pixie said turning her hand palm side up gingerly so Juice could see that the bruising was the same on both sides.

"At this rate we're gonna have to make Gemma have a bodyguard, I mean she broke Cherry's nose and went for your hand."  
"Love and menopause make you do crazy things." Pixie said simply. "She was extremely close to getting punched, I held back as much as I could, still feeling jumpy though."

"Well, once we get your little hand sorted, how 'bout we take the others to the junkyard like we were planning?"

Pixie instantly brightened up. "Yeah, please. I'd like that, I might have to ride behind somebody as I don't think this hand is gonna be able to grip for a while."

"I'll let you come on with me." Juice grinned, steering Pixie into the clubhouse and towards the pool tables where he lifted her up to sit on the edge of one and grabbed the first aid kit off of the wall. "You've still got engine grease on your fingers, we're gonna have to get that off before Chibs re-bandages it."

Pixie winced, seeing the grease streaks were all over the back and palm of her injured hand. "Can you do it? I'll just flinch and not actually get the grease off, but you're pretty meticulous."

Juice nodded. "Finally a use for my OCD, cleaning up after my disaster-prone sister." Juice joked, gently taking Pixie's injured hand and resting it against his forearm over his screaming skull tattoo so he could gently hold Pixie's arm in case she flinched and grabbed a wet wipe, setting to work, talking about anything and everything he could think about to take Pixie's mind off of what he was doing, playing on Pixie's easily distracted nature. After Chibs had gotten himself clean, he made his way down to the clubhouse, smiling when he opened the door and saw Juice carefully cleaning Pixie's hand, telling her some crazy sounding story, complete with accents and different voices as Pixie giggled along, oblivious to what Juice was doing to her hand. Chibs liked seeing how Juice and Pixie interacted with each other, Juice was able to tap into his playful goofy side, whilst also taking amazing care of Pixie, responding to her moods and cues so well it was almost like they were two halves of the same coin. Chibs also knew how fiercely protective Juice was over Pixie too, he'd seen Juice's fists clench and unclench whilst they'd watched Pixie in the ring during the hustle fights, watching as the younger man's face took on a look of pure rage when he heard what the final opponent had been saying to Pixie. Pixie was equally protective over Juice, she was one of the few people able to snap him out of his negative state of mind when he spiralled and when the others ripped into him a little too much, Pixie was always there to eye them up and make sure she had Juice's back. Chibs decided that it was time to step in when he saw that Juice had almost fully cleaned Pixie's hand.

"How's tha wee patient?" He asked as he approached the table, both siblings looking up with a grin.

"A lot cleaner." Pixie answered as Juice dabbed a paper towel over her hand to dry off the moisture, when Pixie winced Chibs saw the flash of panic in Juice's eyes before he swiftly recovered.

"Pix, tell Chibs what we're planning to do later." He said quickly.

"Oh yeah! Wanna come to the junkyard? We were thinking we could all blow off some steam and have some fun."

"I'd love ta." Chibs smiled. "Lemme see ye hand, swee'har'." Juice carefully let go and tidied away the mess whilst Chibs could see the extent of Pixie's injury now that the grease that sneaked under the bandage was off. "How do ye other knuckles feel lass, you able ta move them?"

Pixie tentatively wiggled her fingers, wincing as the movement jostled her index finger. "Yeah, they don't feel broken, just really stiff and sore."

"Good, okay, well we cannae put this off fer any longer." Chibs put both hands on Pixie's hand whilst Juice came back and angled himself so Pixie couldn't see Chibs with her hand.

"I played Peggle last night, got to the sixtieth level." Juice grinned.

Pixie's brow furrowed, Peggle only has fifty."

"Nah." Juice argued, knowing it would distract Pixie.

"Yeah! I've played that game so many times, there's fifty."

"Nah, I definitely hit sixty." Juice said confidently.

"No way, I-Ah!" Pixie squeaked, tears springing to her eyes as Chibs forced her finger back into position and Juice wrapped his arms around her to comfort her and make sure she didn't move whilst Chibs made sure the joint was able to move and there weren't any breaks.

"Hey, you're okay, you're okay, kiddo." Juice soothed. "See all over." He pulled back so Chibs could show Pixie her hand before he wrapped it.

"Tha' feel better?"

"Yeah, thanks guys." Pixie smiled at them both as Chibs wrapped her hand making sure it was secure and padded, then covered the white bandage in the heavier duty pink ones Pixie had wrapped her thigh and hands in for the fight, knowing the colour would cheer Pixie up. "You should probably tell the others it's safe to come in."

Chibs chuckled. "Aye, wusses, tha' lot of 'em, they're all up at tha garage 'coz they didn't want ta see us sort yer hand out."

"I'll send Jax a text." Juice nodded, slipping his phone out of his pocket. "Also you're right about Peggle, Pix, I was just distracting you, I'm impressed that you know how many levels it has though."

"It's 'coz I beat them all back in Highton." Pixie told him, jumping down from the table and going to the bar to get the beers ready for when the other Sons arrived. "Anyone seen Hap?"

"No, not since this mornin'." Chibs answered as he cleared up everything and returned the first aid kit. Pixie came up and hugged him before she passed him a beer. She walked over to the dorms, hearing the faint sound of heavy metal playing behind one of the doors, she rapped on it a couple of times before Happy opened it with an eyebrow raised in a question of who was disturbing him.

"There you are, you been holed up in there all day?" Pixie asked him.  
"Working." He answered.

"Please tell me there's no dead bodies in there." Pixie said, eyeing him suspiciously.

Happy chuckled. "Nah, just designs." He answered. He spotted Pixie's hand all bandaged up and he growled. "What happened?" He asked, inspecting the parts he could see, looking at the bruising around the base of her fingers peeking from the bandages.

"My hand got slammed in a drawer, I'm okay." Pixie assured him, seeing Happy's eyes take on a murderous glare over the fact Pixie was hurt.

"Who did it?"  
"It was an accident Hap, just a misunderstanding."

"Who. Did. It?" Happy ground out, stooping a little so he could see Pixie's eyes better. Pixie knew there was no room for argument when Happy was like this.

"Gemma, but-" Was all Pixie could get out before Happy started to storm past her. Pixie grabbed onto Happy's upper arm to try and get him to slow down or stop moving whilst she finished her explanation, but ended up being towed along by him instead. "Happy! It was an accident!" Pixie yelped, trying to keep her grip whilst also making a 'help me' face at Juice and Chibs who came over seeing the commotion.

"Pixie's right, it was just a bad accident." Juice said hurriedly as he tried to block Happy's way as Chibs blocked the door.

Pixie realised going for Happy's arm was futile so let go and jumped onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Oi, Terminator, listen for a sec!" Pixie yelped. "Gemma's already apologised, we talked it out and we're on good terms now. She didn't mean to hurt me."

"She still hurt you." Happy growled.

"What're you even gonna do? She's Clay's old lady." Juice put in.

"You can't harm her, I won't let you, and if you do, that'll only hurt me more." Pixie insisted. "I'll cry." She finished up, knowing Happy hated seeing her upset.

Happy grunted in frustration, but stopped trying to move past Juice or get Pixie off of him. "I wanna talk to her."

"What're ye gonna say?" Chibs asked cautiously. The door opened behind him and Jax limped in, looking at the scene before him.  
"What's this Mexican standoff for?" He said, confused.

"Happy's not happy that Gemma hurt me, I'm trying to tell him what happened and that it's all smoothed over."

"Yeah, relax, man. Everything's cool." Jax agreed. "What Gemma did wasn't right, but it was an accident all the same, she said 'sorry'." Jax explained. When Happy didn't calm down, Jax strode over to him. "Look, we're all not happy with the fact Pixie got hurt, believe me, we all love the little maniac, and I'm gonna talk to Gemma about it later, make sure it doesn't happen again, okay?"

Happy inhaled and exhaled. "You better." He said after a tense moment, relaxing his posture. The other Sons in the room gave a collective sigh of relief.

"Hey, Hap, you know what'll make me happy?" Pixie asked as Happy readjusted his stance so he could support Pixie's body on his back. He turned his head to one side, looking at her in a silent question.

"If you came to the scrap yard with me and the others so we can beat the shit out of the stuff there. You can get all your grumpy energy out in a safer, nicer way, and it'll be more entertaining too." Pixie said persuasively.

Happy smiled. "I like that idea."

"Good." Pixie hugged him before sliding off his back as the other Sons came in and she started serving them their drinks.

☠️☠️☠️

Everyone ended up going to the junkyard, even Gemma, as the group decided she needed a healthier way of getting her mood swings out that wasn't hurting others. Pixie rode on the back of Juice's motorbike and then was promptly scooped up by Tig upon arrival who finally got a chance to fuss over her and her hand now that it was safely wrapped up. He helped her hold her bat so Pixie could join in with the smashing fest and tried to keep up with her as she darted around the yard, burning off her energy. Eventually Chibs, Tig, Juice and Pixie made up a a game of hide and seek tag, though they quickly realised Pixie was difficult to find as her small stature and flexibility meant she could hide incredibly well and the group had to call in the others to come help find her after she crawled inside an empty oil drum. Happy found her in the end after he heard her sneeze from the dust and traced the noise, laughing with her as he pulled her out. Because there were so many of them, Oliver, the junkyard owner, decided to hook up his stereo to the tannoy system so the group had something to listen to whilst they caused havoc.

Pixie and Chibs were play fighting over Pixie trying to take his sunglasses when 'Tubthumping' by 'Chumbawamba' came over the system. They stopped in order to jump up and down singing the lyrics loudly like a two person rowdy party as the others watched on in amusement and confusion, not quite understanding the British pub culture, eventually joining in with them and enjoying the song's main message.

When the sun started to set, the group decided to head their separate ways, Opie wanted to spend time with Donna and help his kids with their homework and tuck them in, Gemma said she was going to do some errands and agreed to drop Cherry off as Half-Sack wanted to help Pixie with prospect duties. Bobby headed home deciding that he wanted to work on his guitar which needed restringing and Juice wanted to work on a laptop that needed fixing. Happy, Clay, Tig, Chibs, Jax, Half-Sack and Pixie headed back to the clubhouse to prepare for the evening's meeting with McKeevy. Pixie rode on the back of Tig's motorcycle, snuggling into his back and watched how Tig handled his bike with care and ease, like he was born to ride. Jax went to his dorm to chill out and Happy also retreated back into his dorm to resume his secret designs. The others started recounting the money and stacking the thirty-two K pixie brought in as it was still in scrunched up wads of bills. Pixie and Half-Sack realised the washing machine was broken so they decided to fix that between them.

"You think tonight's meeting with the Irish is gonna go well?" Half-Sack asked as Pixie passed him a screwdriver.

"Yeah, from what Tig and Chibs said, it should be a relaxed meet between old friends, they aren't expecting tension, especially since Chibs confirmed we have the money."

"Hm." Half-Sack said as he worked.

"What?" Pixie asked, nudging him.

"I was thinking of ways to get the others to view us as more than just prospects, get them seeing us as proper Sons."

Pixie nodded, intrigued. "Yeah?"

"If tonight's meet is just a casual thing, why don't we ask Clay and Tig if we can tag along, see how they handle it and get used to being out on business. I mean you already know what that's like, this isn't your first rodeo, but me? I need to start somewhere."

"That's actually a really good idea, proud of you, H." Pixie grinned. "Let's finish sorting this and then go find the guys."  
"You think they'll go for it?" Half-Sack asked.

"They may not at first, but I'll try and persuade 'em." Pixie assured him. "We'll get our top rockers in no time."

"Team Top Rocker." Half-Sack grinned, fist-bumping Pixie before he resumed sorting the washing machine. Between them they got it up and running again and tidied up before walking out into the main clubhouse area where Clay, Chibs and Tig were finishing up with the money. Pixie decided to approach Chibs first, knowing that Clay and Tig were more likely to listen if Chibs was on board with the idea.

"Chibbie?" She said sweetly, giving him her best smile as she came over to his side of the table. Chibs looked up, seeing Half-Sack and Pixie stood together smiling at him. Chibs' eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"What have ye done now, muppet?" He said with an authoritative dad tone, making Clay and Tig look up.

Pixie giggled at his response. "I actually haven't done anything." Pixie laughed at Chibs' skeptical expression. "Neither has H. We just wanted to run an idea by you all."

"Oh boy." Clay grunted, rubbing his brow. "Well this oughta be good." He said sarcastically, taking a sip of his drink.

"H and I were talking about trying to step up our prospect-ship, and we were thinking it would be a good idea if we tagged along to go see McKeevy."

"And why's that?" Tig asked.

"Because that way we can learn about how the club handles business relations and shit." Half-Sack put in. "So we can help out more instead of just doing grunt work."

"So that way when we get patched in, we can jump in straight away instead of you guys struggling to get us up and active." Pixie added.

"Plus I've already met McKeevy when he brought the shipment in." Half-Sack recalled, hoping that might sway their case.

The three older Sons exchanged glances and Chibs shrugged, rubbing his chin in thought. "Well, it is only a casual meetin'."

"Fine." Clay nodded. "But I don't want to hear a peep out've either of ya' whilst we're at the meeting. Got it?"

"Promise." Pixie nodded.

"Yeah, not a word." Half-Sack said with a grin, watching as Pixie did a jump of excitement.

"Go get ready then, kuttes off, no distinguishable clothing." Tig ordered. "And no pink, baby."

"On it, boss." Pixie grinned, grabbing Half-Sack's hand and the pair of them bounded off together like over-excited puppies. Pixie knocked on the dorm Happy was residing in as it was her old room, and had both some of Half-Sack's and her clothing in it. She could hear Slipknot playing on the other side as Happy got up to answer. "Hey Hap, can we come in and get changed? Clay's let us go with him and Tig to see McKeevy." Pixie said excitedly.

Happy nodded and stood to one side so the prospects could come in. His bed duvet was rumpled and there were pencils and torn out pages all over the bed of sketches and ideas he'd been toying with. Pixie went over to the dresser and pulled out a plain black hoodie for Half-Sack and then went hunting for one for herself as Half-Sack pulled off his kutte. Before he could put the hoodie on, Happy beckoned him over. "Made this." He grunted passing him a page. There was an outline of Half-Sack's upper arm and on it, Happy had designed a mural of two broken planks making a cross shape with an army helmet hanging on the top and a set of dog tags resting against the middle. In the middle of the cross was a marking of five tally marks as if they'd been etched into the cross. Along the bottom were five folded american flags made into triangles in the way they were done for military funerals. Half-Sack sat down on the bed hard, completely taken aback by the tattoo. Pixie saw his face and sat on one side of him, whilst Happy sat down on the other, watching Half-Sack's reaction.

"What do you think, bud?" Pixie asked gently, rubbing his back, Half-Sack was somewhere else entirely, his eyes studying the page and the beautifully detailed tattoo.

"I...It's..." Half-Sack murmured, clearing his throat. "I love it." He finished. "Thank you, so much, dude." He said, looking to Happy.

Happy smiled and shrugged. "Was thinkin' you could put your dates of active duty on the tags."

"Definitely. I love that." Half-Sack nodded. "I like it on my upper arm too."

"Juice has my thermal printer for the stencils, I'll get him to print it and we'll do it." Happy told Half-Sack. Pixie wasn't sure whether Half-Sack was more surprised that Happy was saying more than three words to him, or that Happy spent all day designing a tattoo that he was willing to put on Half-Sack, but either way, the younger man's jaw dropped for a second before he recovered. "That means a lot, Happy, thanks man."

"No biggie." Happy grunted. "Go get ready." He ushered Half-Sack off of the bed, then pulled Pixie over to him. "Didn't forget 'bout you." He smiled, handing over a second piece of paper. It had the outline of Pixie's forearm with Bruce's motorcycle sketched out perfectly and his name underneath, Happy had got every detail and line perfect and even worked in a small heart in between the two twin cams of the engine. Pixie was blown away by the design and how much care and consideration Happy had put into it.

"It's gorgeous, Hap! You're the best!" Pixie squeaked, trying not to cry as she wrapped her arms around him. Half-Sack came out of the bathroom and had a look at the design, also being thoroughly impressed by it.

"Are you gonna do it in colour? That way it'll match your other tattoos." Half-Sack suggested. Happy raised an eyebrow at Pixie in question.

"If that's okay? Bruce's bike was a dark red shade, kinda like fresh blood?" Pixie described, knowing Happy would know the exact shade she was talking about.

Happy nodded, smiling. "I can do that."

Half-Sack and Pixie finished getting ready before saying their goodbyes to Happy and went back to the main room where Chibs hung up his phone.

"We're all set, Devon just called, the Irishman will meet you at the bar in about half an hour." He told Clay and Tig.

"A'ight, good." Clay nodded, watching as Pixie and Half-Sack joined them. "Jax still here?"

"He's in his room." Chibs answered. "I'll go call him." He put his arm around Pixie's shoulders taking her back down the hall so he could talk to her quietly. "You alright, love?"

"Yeah, Happy designed memorial tattoos for both me and H. Made me get a little choked, but I'm good to go." Pixie assured him. Chibs kissed her temple and then knocked on Jax's door.

"Jackie boy? Clay's waiting." He called through the door.

"Kay!" Jax called back, but there was no sound of movement on the other side.

"Come on." Chibs barked, rousing the younger man who opened the door to see Chibs and Pixie.

"Going goth, darlin'?" He greeted Pixie, eyeing her all black outfit.

"No, H and I are going with Tig and Clay to the meeting tonight, think Clay wants to run some stuff by you."

Jax nodded. "Stay out of trouble then, Piglet." He smiled, moving past the pair to catch up with Tig, Half-Sack and Clay who'd gone outside, Pixie and Chibs followed along behind. When they reached the others, Tig smiled tucking Pixie under his arm.

"Look after her." Chibs nodded, giving Pixie a final kiss to her temple.

"With my life, brother." Tig assured him. The group turned as a black car pulled up next to them and Gemma rolled down the window, looking to Jax.

"Hey, I've been trying to call you on your cell, they're taking Abel out of the incubation chamber again tonight." Gemma told them with an excited smile.

"Oh shit, okay." Jax grinned, checking his pockets to make sure he had everything with him.

"Get your ass over there, dad." Clay said as he and Chibs patted Jax on the back before Jax moved off to his bike, getting himself ready to tail Gemma. Half-Sack got onto his bike and Tig ushered Pixie over to his as they put their helmets on and Pixie wrapped her arms around his torso. Clay approached the car, giving Gemma a smile.

"Hey, baby." He greeted her.

Gemma looked him up and down. "Plain clothes? Where you goin'?" She asked warily.

"Meetin' an Irishman for a drink." Clay assured her.

"Well, be careful." Gemma nodded, eyes worried. Clay bent down and kissed her gently to soothe her, giving her one last loving smile before he went to his bike and got on it. As Jax pulled out of the lot, deciding to just go instead of waiting for Gemma, she reversed her car to make a turn, stopping in front of Tig's bike. "Hey, Tig?" She called over.

"Yeah darlin'?" He answered as he fired up his bike.

"Watch him." Gemma ordered.

"Absolutely." Tig nodded, switching his headlights on and watching as Gemma turned and left the lot. "You all set, baby girl?" He said to Pixie, patting her good hand.

"Yeah, let's do this." Pixie nodded, pulling her visor down.

☠️☠️☠️

The sounds of pool balls smacking together and quiet chatter greeted the Sons as they walked into the Irish bar. There were neon green shamrocks on the stone walls and the bar and furniture had been made from a light oak wood. There were a few regular patrons dotted around, but the place was almost deserted. The bartender, a tall, broad, muscular, bald man in his fifties looked at the group as they approached the bar, resting his hands on the top. Clay passed the money bag to Tig and he slung it over his shoulder.

"Hey." Clay greeted as he and Tig leaned closer to the bartender and Half-Sack and Pixie pulled back, keeping their heads down and staying quiet. "Where's McKeevy?" Clay asked.

"Don't know." The bartender answered. Pixie's head snapped up, alarm bells going off in her head. Tig caught the motion out the corner of his eye, feeling equally uneasy. "His cousin's waitin' fer you." The bartender added, gesturing with a head nod towards a slight, balding man sat at one of the tables in a red and cream plaid shirt.

"You know this guy?" Tig asked quietly, assessing the figure.

"He's with the cause." The bartender shrugged. His response didn't ease Tig or Pixie's suspicions. "Doesn't come stateside much. Must be important." The bartender explained.

Clay tapped the bar twice in response as a thank you, and started walking over. Tig followed, silently gesturing with his hand for Half-Sack and Pixie to follow along behind. Pixie hoped to god that the situation wasn't going to turn hostile, but her eyes raked over the room, looking for vantage points, exit and entrances, and anything that could be used as a shield and or a weapon should the situation arise. She noted Tig doing the same and smiled, feeling a little more comfortable knowing at least two out of the four were on the ball. They reached the row of tables which were all connected, making a repeated "E" shape with two bar stools either side of the prongs, which were held up by a thick slab of wood. Tig motioned for Pixie and Half-Sack to sit down on the table parallel to the one the Irishman was sat at, Pixie took her place on the side where she could have a clear view of the main entrance. When he looked up and saw the group approaching, he stood up to greet Tig and Clay.

"Cammy Hayes, Michael's cousin." He introduced himself. There was a glass of beer and a glass of whiskey on the table. The whiskey was half-drunk, which suggested he hadn't been there long.

"Clay Morrow." Clay greeted, shaking Cammy's hand.

"Tig." Tig said simply, shaking his hand two.

Cammy nodded. "Have a seat, please." Cammy gestured to the table. Clay and Tig sat down on the opposite side to him. Pixie and Half-Sack kept their heads down, listening, but keeping out of the conversation. To pass the time, Pixie picked up a napkin and opened it out, pulling out two biros and passing one to Half-Sack so they could doodle whilst the meeting was in session.

"Where is he?" Clay asked, getting right down to business.

"He's dead." Cammy said simply, Pixie's ears immediately pricked, wanting the details to make sure the situation was safe.

Tig and Clay looked shocked. "Jesus. How?" Clay asked, eyebrows raised.

"The Oakland Park Commissioner threatened to bust open a shipment we got comin' in on Monday. Wants to triple his payoff money."  
"Hefner. Greedy prick." Clay said in understanding, filling in Tig. "Been riding roughshod over the ports for years." He followed up, irritation in his voice.

"Michael was pissed." Cammy continued his tale. "Went off on him fer changin' the deal. Must've spooked Hefner. He had his port goons jump Michael. They beat him, broke his neck. Left him fer dead." Cammy said sadly. His blue eyes were full of pain for his cousin. Half-Sack gently patted Pixie's hand, making sure she was okay, realising that Michael's death was similar to Pixie's childhood friend Nicole's and wanted to make sure Pixie was okay listening to the details. She looked him in the eye and gave a quick nod, before carrying on her drawing of a cat riding a skateboard.

Clay let out a breath, shaking his head. "Sorry."

"That's awful shit man, condolences." Tig nodded.

"Thank you." Cammy nodded back, his eyes round and haunted.

"Anythin' we can do to help with this?" Clay asked.

"No, no. It's personal. I'll handle Mr Hefner." Cammy said, a dark promise on his face as he drained his whiskey glass. He put the empty tumbler on the table, turning it in his hand idly. "Michael spoke very highly of Samcro. Trusted ye." Cammy informed them. "Hope to be able to continue the relationship. That's why I'm here. I'll be your new contact."

Clay weighed the option. "I mean no disrespect, I'm sure what you're sayin' is the truth-"

"No, no." Cammy cut him off, understanding Clay's cautiousness. "Wish we had a secret handshake or business card." Cammy reached into his back pocket, seeing the movement out of the corner of her eye, Pixie froze, watching to make sure that whatever he had in there was not a weapon. She was surprised when he pulled out a set of photographs. Clay and Tig studied them, recognising but Mckeevy and Cammy in the photos, showing their bond and their relationship. Clay and Tig looked at each other before Clay nodded his approval and Tig turned to Cammy, gesturing to the black bag.

"That's the package there that we were deliverin' to McKeevy." He told him.

"Two month's, and a month's insurance. Twenty K plus an extra twenty-five to smooth over our discrepancies with the delayed payment. You can use the extra for funeral costs, give Michael the send off he deserves." Clay nodded.

Cammy took a sip of his beer. "Mind if I take a quick count?"

"I got all night, brother." Clay assured him.

"Thank you." Cammy stood up, taking the bag and walking off to a back room. Tig got up, and went over to see what Half-Sack and Pixie had been up to whilst they'd been talking to Cammy. On Half-Sack's side, he'd been drawing cars and motorcycles, the drawing's weren't good, but you could at least tell what they were supposed to be. On Pixie's side, she'd moved on from the skateboarding cat and had drawn a bobblehead figure of Clay with a fat cigar sticking out of his mouth. Tig chuckled at it and lifted the napkin up so he could show it to Clay, who did an eye roll, but smiled, seeing the funny side of it.

"You doin' okay, baby?" Tig asked quietly. "You've got your radar running."

"Yeah." Pixie assured him. "The situation felt off at first, it still doesn't feel quite right, but if you're happy to deal, then I'm good." Pixie nodded.

"Gut instinct?" Tig queried.

"Yeah, I dunno, probably just nothin'." Pixie assured him, gently pushing Tig to go back and sit on his side. He kissed her cheek and returned to his seat, chatting to Clay for a while and eventually fetching them beers. Cammy finally returned, looking a bit happier, especially now he was holding forty-five K in the bag.

"Lovely." Cammy said, putting the bag onto the table. "This will float the cause, and keep Samcro and us in business." He sat down. "And the extra is greatly appreciated too. Glad we could work it out, Clay."

"Me too, Cameron." Clay smiled at his new ally.

"How is the, uh, cause going?" Tig asked, making conversation.

"Like any good war. Slow and steady." Cammy answered. Pixie wasn't sure if any war could be classed as a 'good' one.

Clay decided to further sweeten the deal by raising his glass of beer, Tig and Cammy followed suit. "Michael McKeevy. Good soldier. Good friend." He toasted.

"To a unified Ireland. It'll never happen through nonviolence." Cammy added. Pixie shifted uncomfortably in her seat, but kept her calm demeanour. Half-Sack moved his hand closer to hers, knowing she needed just a touch of comfort.

"Hear, hear." Clay cheered, as the three men clinked their glasses together. Pixie looked up, hearing the front door open, seeing two Latino men in grey hoodies with their hoods up stalk through the door. They had their faces set into snarls and Pixie's eyes went wide, jumping off her stool immediately as Half-Sack turned to see what was going on. Tig immediately keyed in to Pixie's change in demeanour just as the bartender noticed the two men approaching.

"What the hell do you guys want?" The bartender barked. The men took no notice of him, instead reaching under their hoodies.

" _GET DOWN!_ " Pixie shouted at the top of her lungs, realising that there were innocents around the bar next to the guys as well as Clay and Cammy who hadn't quite noticed yet. Half-Sack lurched across the aisle, going for Cammy Hayes whilst Tig echoed Pixie's cry and forced Clay over backwards, the two men landing in a heap behind the bar table. The Latino men began opening fire, shooting at the glass bottles as they quickly made their way over to where the Sons and Cammy were situated. Half-Sack hauled Cammy behind the solid bar table where Clay and Tig were shielding and Cammy let out a cry of pain as a bullet caught him in the back of his thigh, right below his ass. Pixie pulled out her left knife from it's hidden holster and threw it at the taller of the two advancing Latinos, the knife sinking up to the hilt right between his eyes. The man made a gasping sound as his eyes rolled back into his head and he dropped down, dead. Tig popped up over the top of the table and began firing at the other guy who was still trying to advance. As Clay pulled his gun out and fired too, Half-Sack pulled him down a second before a bullet careened towards Clay's head, instead lodging in the wooden pillar behind him. Tig kept firing as Pixie crouched low and stalked the Latino man who was shielding behind another pillar, she jumped out behind him on top of a table, and grasped his hood, shoving him out from behind, whilst flattening herself against the wooden pillar so she wouldn't be hit by Tig's bullets. Pixie pulled out her other knife and plunged it into the guy's throat, carving across it, holding him in place as Tig fired. Between them they finished him off and the guy dropped to the floor with a gurgle, blood pouring out of him like a sieve. With the gunfire ceasing, the bar was plunged into a deafening silence as everyone's ears rang as they looked at the carnage around them.

Half-Sack lifted himself off of Clay as Tig grabbed Clay's shoulder to help him up. "Clay, you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Clay shook him off, getting up with an angry look on his face, the broken glass crunching under his boots.

"Cammy's hurt." Half-Sack yelped, seeing the pool of blood under Cammy's hips.

"Aw, shit." Clay cursed going to him, Tig darted across to where Pixie was checking herself over.

"You okay, babe?" He asked, eyes wide as he checked her over too, making sure she hadn't been hit. There was a small cut to her hand, but other than that she was fine. Tig lifted her off the table, stepping over the bloody body on the floor. Pixie ran over to Cammy, realising he was hit and instantly went into first aid mode, assessing him.

"This is bad, Cameron." Pixie said, looking it over. "We need towels to pad the wound and slow the blood flow. H, go." Pixie ordered. Half-Sack scrambled to his feet, running to the bartender who'd heard Pixie and grabbed the towels he had behind the bar, passing them to Half-Sack before going to check on the other patrons, who luckily seemed fine apart from scrapes here and there, having managed to get down in time upon hearing Pixie's yell.

"We gotta get you to an ER." Clay said quickly as he helped Pixie pad the wound with towels.

Cameron screamed in pain. "I'm wanted in four continents, I can't just check into a hospital." He explained wincing.

Clay stood up. "Call the guys." He said to Half-Sack. "Lock the doors." He nodded to Tig who darted off, helping the bartender to usher the people out and lock everything down. As he passed one of the bodies, he noticed a tattoo on the man's forearm of the one Pixie had got between the eyes. He stooped down and pulled the sleeve up, cursing.

"Clay?" He called. Hearing Tig's voice, Clay went over to him to have a look. "Mayans, man." Tig spat on the body with disgust and stood up with Clay. "I guess it's on." Tig said gravely.

"And this war ain't gonna be slow or steady." Clay agreed darkly. Tig looked around at the battle scene and where Pixie and the bartender were stabilising Cammy between them. 

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	72. Doctor Pixie

** WARNING: Medical procedure descriptions, blood and gore throughout chapter. **

Pixie had stabilised Cammy as much as she could with the limited resources that she had to hand, the bartender had helped her wrap the wound in towels. Tig had Cammy's leg raised as much as he could to keep the blood loss down and the bartender was doing a good job of keeping Cammy conscious and alert, talking to him about stuff back in Ireland and alcohol. Cammy kept pleading with them to give him whiskey or something strong to take the pain away but Pixie had refused, silently thanking Doc Doc for training her medically since she was old enough to hold a roll of bandages. She breathed a sigh of relief when the door opened and Jax, Chibs, Juice and Opie stormed through the door, eyes wide as they took in the empty and damaged bar scene around them. Chibs instantly came to Cammy's aid, stepping in place of the bartender, and Juice squatted down too, ready to help should they need him.

"Hey, love, what's tha' situation?" He said quickly.

"Bullet in his lower right ass cheek, from the amount of blood and where it's positioned, I'm almost certain it's resting on an artery, we need to get the blood flow down and the wound packed." Pixie told him. "And no alcohol, He's already ingested a glass of whiskey and half a beer, if he has any more, the blood will thin and it'll take the wound longer to clot and heal."

Chibs nodded, impressed by Pixie's medical knowledge. "Aye, good lass. You okay?"

"Yeah. No one else got hit." She replied. Chibs nodded again, checking Cammy's vital signs. Pixie looked up to see Clay and Jax talking, making sure Gemma was safe. "Where's McKeevy?" Chibs asked, realising his friend was nowhere to be seen.

"He's dead." Clay answered. Chibs and Juice looked up, shocked. "Port Commissioner had him beaten to death."

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph." Chibs growled.

The bartender stood up. "We'll get rid of the Mexicans." He told them.

"A'ight, we'll take care of Cam." Clay agreed. "He's hurt real bad, we gotta get him back to the clubhouse somehow."

"Not a problem." Juice grinned as he helped Tig, Juice and Chibs get Cammy upright. "Sack get the back entrance open." He ordered as they started manhandling Cammy down the corridor. Half-Sack jogged down there, opened the door and grinned as he saw his ambulance waiting for them. He opened the back doors for it too and the folding metal step.

"Uncle Freddy's Infirmary at your service." He declared, grinning at Clay and Tig who followed them out. Clay smiled at the reference, realising that Half-Sack's blunder may actually be the difference between Cammy living and dying, as well as how close he'd been to being shot, had Half-Sack not pulled him to the floor in time. Whilst they'd waited for the cavalry, he'd looked at the pillar where the bullet meant for him had landed, being silently thankful that the prospects had come too. Juice and Chibs got Cammy into the back of the ambulance, with Cammy screaming in pain the entire way, feeling the intense stinging his leg as the men moved him. They got him onto the stretcher bed inside and Half-Sack lifted Pixie up and into it so she could continue the first aid efforts. Half-Sack shut the doors and jumped into the driver's seat, starting up the engine and pulling away.

Inside, Cammy looked up at Chibs as Chibs started hunting around for supplies with Juice. "Do ye know what the hell yer doin', Scotsman?" He asked in dismay.

"Aye, Five months in Her Majesty's Armed Forces as a medic."

"Five months, eh?" Cammy groaned.

"'Til I was court martialed." Chibs grinned at him, before tearing open a packet of gauze and started assessing the wound as Pixie unwrapped the bar towels.

"Oh great." Cammy said sarcastically. "And what about ye, cailín?" He asked, looking at Pixie. (Irisih for 'girl')

"No formal medical training, apart from a St John's Ambulance certificate and helping my old chater's doctor out. I've patched up one ass already since coming here, so this is fine for me."

"Oh Bollocks." Cammy said with a wail. Pixie and Chibs set to work, snipping away Cammy's trouser leg and applying antiseptic, whilst Juice held him down to stop him from jerking or lashing out from the pain as Half-Sack drove them as fast as he dared back to the clubhouse. Pixie put an oxygen mask on Cammy and hooked him up to a heart-rate monitor, remembering how to do it.

"J?" Pixie asked as she started looking through the drugs they had on board.

"Yeah?" Juice asked immediately.

"How much do you know about drugs? Cammy needs Morphine and Ativan, but I can't remember how much is the right dose." Pixie said quickly, passing him the tray with all the small bottles of drugs in.

"I got this." Juice said getting to work. "Hook him up to an IV."

"Ye had experience with medical drugs, lad?" Cammy asked Juice as he started filling syringes with the correct amounts of various drugs after he rooted through all the bottles and worked out which ones he needed, including some of the antibiotics.

"Recreationally, yeah." Juice grinned.

Pixie found the saline and the needles searching for a good vein on Cammy's arms.

"Please tell me ye've done tha' before." Cammy said watching as Pixie sterilised his inner elbow.

Pixie inserted the needle into his vein, letting out a sigh of relief seeing that she'd managed to get it right. "I have a one hundred percent success rate, as of right now." Pixie smiled at him, Cammy seemed reassured, but Chibs realised what she meant and his eyes went wide before he recovered and his calm demeanour came back so Cammy wouldn't catch on. As Juice inserted the drugs into the IV, Cammy seemed to relax more, feeling the effects of the pain killers and the others in the concoction. Half-Sack pulled into the lot and came to a stop in the garage, opening the back door once he got the ambulance parked up.

"Everyone's good?"

"Yeah, you're a good driver, H." Pixie reassured him. They heard the rumble of the motorbikes as the others roared into the lot, before coming up to the garage to see what was going on. Clay appeared at the ambulance doors with Jax who was standing away from him, scowling and looking at the floor. Pixie exchanged a quick glance with him, silently exchanging that Jax wasn't doing good, but was fine for now whilst Pixie was dealing with Cammy. She was surprised when Opie pulled down the shutters and coldly walked past Jax whilst Jax tried to look up at him. This was highly unusual behaviour from the pair, who usually stood and joked together as they were normally so close with each other. Pixie wanted to ask, but knew they needed to continue working on Cammy, he was much more stable, but nowhere near out of the woods. Tig opened the side door to check on everything going on inside, catching eyes with Pixie. She took in the stress lines on his forehead and the dark glare in his eyes, he was not doing good either. Pixie wondered what on earth had happened after the ambulance had left. The tension was like a thick blanket in the air, weighing everyone down.

Chibs filled Clay in on what they'd done to Cammy during the ride over to the clubhouse. "That bullet's tha only thing slowing down tha blood loss. The only way we're gonna save this fella is if we get surgical tools."

"Like what?" Tig barked.

"Scalpels, clamps, sutures, needles,-" he looked over to Pixie who nodded, "-all that shit."

Tig nodded and stepped away from the ambulance as Gemma came out of the office, startled by the commotion. Jax slunk off into a corner, scowling down at the floor.

"What happened?" She asked, looking to Tig.

"Ask him." Tig growled, not in the mood to talk. Pixie knew he wanted her to go to him, but knew he'd just have to wait it out until she was done. Clay came away from the end of the ambulance as Gemma approached.

"Oh my god." She breathed, worried for Clay's safety, running to his side and wrapping her arms around him before she looked him over.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine." Clay soothed her.

"I knew it! Goddammit!" Gemma fussed. "I knew something bad was gonna happen." She moved away from him to look inside the ambulance, concerned as to if any of the Sons had been injured. "Where'd we get an ambulance?" She asked the trio of Sons inside, all three looked up and pointed simultaneously at Half-Sack standing next to Gemma before continuing to work on Cammy.

"Numb-Nuts stole it." Chibs clarified when Gemma looked perplexed in Half-Sack's direction and he gave her a small smile, Pixie stopped her work long enough to raise a warning eyebrow at Chibs and elbow him over the name-calling.

"We'll patch up the Irishman." Clay assured her when she turned around to him, slightly panicked.

"Alright, so what do you need me to do?" Gemma asked Clay, putting her hands on his chest comfortingly.

"Well, we're gonna have a full house tomorrow. Maybe you could prep that, you know, food, booze."

Gemma nodded. "I'll get the girls into it."

"Mm-hmm." Clay brought Gemma into a reassuring hug.

"Man, I hate this shit." Gemma said, sounding a little scared. Clay nuzzled his cheek against hers to soothe her worries.

"Love you." She told him. Clay gave her a loving kiss and echoed her words. Gemma went to check on Jax before going back into the office.

Pixie turned her attention back to Cammy when he started groaning, and trying to writhe around. "You're alright, Cammy." Pixie said gently to calm him.

"Calm down, we got ya." Chibs added. "Come on, hold him, hold him." He told Juice as Cammy started to try and get up, in a semi-conscious state. Jax appeared in the doorway of the ambulance, Pixie giving him a quick smile.

"Chibs?" Jax called.

"Aye?" Chibs said distractedly as he helped Pixie.

"Make a list of the surgical shit you need." Jax told him. "I'll call Tara, see if she can help."

"Okay, kid." Chibs nodded.

"I can deal with sewing him up and sorting the artery, I've helped with that before." Pixie said as she checked Cammy's vital signs. Jax nodded and stormed off.

"H? Get a notepad, I'll list the things, write it down and get them to Jax, ASAP." Pixie ordered. Half-Sack jumped at the chance to help and rushed into the office, coming out a second later with a pad and pen. Pixie listed everything she could think of with the help of Chibs. Juice checked the ambulance inventory, finding what he could in there. Once they were done, Half-Sack gave it to Jax who took off like a bullet from a gun out of the lot.

"Chibbie, we gotta get Cammy stabilised and into the clubhouse, there's no way we can perform a surgery in the garage." Pixie said as Juice administered more drugs to help Cammy into his IV.

"Aye." Chibs agreed. Pixie moved to the open ambulance doors.

"Tiggy?" She called out. Tig jogged out from the office straight away.

"Yeah, darlin'?" He greeted.

"Can you go down to the clubhouse and prep a table for surgery? Juice found linen and incontinence pads which we can place under Cammy to catch the blood, there's an antiseptic spray too." Pixie handed him the bundles and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Sure, baby." Tig put his forehead against hers for a second before nodding and taking off down the lot. Pixie turned back to Cammy and found the straps to hold him down onto the stretcher. Juice helped her put a blanket over Cammy to help keep him warm against the cool night air and they strapped him onto the gurney for safe transportation. Once they were happy to move him, they manoeuvred the gurney getting it out of the ambulance and set up to wheel him across the lot, which they did as fast as they dared, without it being an uncomfortable journey for Cammy. Juice had a paramedics bag stuffed full of everything they could possibly need slung over one shoulder. When they reached the doors, Half-Sack was there to greet them, ushering them in to where Happy and Tig were waiting at the doors to the church. They'd moved all the chairs to one end of the room and put the blankets and pads over the stretch of the table along with a pile of clean white pillows to help put under Cammy's head and hips.

Tig helped Chibs lower the gurney to the table height and they used the gurney blanket that was covering the mattress of it to lift and roll him onto the table whilst Pixie, Happy and Juice worked to get him in position and stabilised. Happy realised the saline bag stand was attached to the gurney so he darted out and came back with a wooden coat rack and coat hanger, fashioning a stand next to the table for the bag to go on, as well as the heart rate monitor. Pixie thanked him and Tig as the two men stepped back to let the trio sort Cammy. Juice stayed with Cammy whilst Pixie and Chibs went to scrub down their hands and prepare for the surgery. As soon as Chibs closed and locked the bathroom door, Pixie's hands started to shake as the adrenaline wore off. She scrubbed them under the hot tap adding soap and put her hot forehead against the cold tiles above the sink.

"Where's ye head, lass?" Chibs asked gently as he took off all his rings and put them in his pocket. Then scrubbed the blood and grime off of his hands too.

"Not good." Pixie whimpered, letting her guard down for a second. She needed to release her emotions before she performed the surgery or else she would never be able to get into the right mindset. Chibs realised this and stopped scrubbing to kiss her cheek as her tears fell into the sink.

"Yer doin' so well, mo ghràdh." Chibs murmured as Pixie leant against him.

"It happened again. It happened again. It happened again." She murmured, heartbreak, pain and panic in her voice. Chibs realised she was referencing the night her club had been massacred, they'd all been celebrating in the bar area of the clubhouse when the IRA had stormed in. Tonight had been an echo of events for Pixie, there were too many similarities and Pixie was having intense panic and flashbacks which she'd had to suppress whilst they fought the Mayans and then worked on Cammy.

"Yer not gonna lose anyone, swee'har'." Chibs assured her. "Cammy's ill, but ye can save him, an' me an' Juicy boy will be there every step 'o' the way, doin' wha' we can too, aye?"

"Aye." Pixie answered shakily. "I know, my heads just back at the bar still, I saw them walk in and I just... Clay was almost dead tonight." Pixie's mind was whirling faster than she could communicate.

"Wha'?" Chibs asked.

"Half-Sack saved Clay, he was shooting at the Mayan and the Mayan got a clear headshot, Half-Sack pulled Clay down just as he fired and the bullet missed, but it was such a close call." Pixie explained tearily. I was so scared, I didn't want to lose everyone again. I couldn't."

"And ye didn't lass. Ye and Halfie did amazin' I'm so proud 'o' both 'o' ye." Chibs soothed, angling himself so he could stand behind Pixie and continue to wash both of their hands, watching the red blood whirl down the drain. "We were all scared, lassie, so don't ye worry 'bout tha'." Chibs confessed. "When we got tha' call, I was so worried and scared fer ye, I just wanted to race up there and hug you, take ye home an' put ye in yer pillow fort where I know ye'd be safe." Chibs continued.

Pixie smiled up at him and kissed his cheek. "Love you, dad. I'd like to do that when we get Cammy better."

"We will, mo ghràdh, I love ye too, nighean."

"What do those words mean?" Pixie asked as Chibs stepped away, grabbing the paper towels for them to dry their hands.

"Well, 'mo ghràdh' is 'my love', coz I love ye." Chibs smiled. "And 'nighean' is daughter, 'coz yer my sweet lass, no matter what." Chibs assured her, using a paper towel to clear Pixie's face of tears.

"I like them, hearing you speak Gaelic makes me feel calmer, and safe too, I dunno why." Pixie squirted her hands with the antiseptic spray and did the same to Chibs' hands.

"I'm glad ye feel tha' way, lass." Chibs nodded, watching as Pixie took some deep breaths, feeling calmer and more in control. "I like it when you chatter at me, just tellin' me wha's goin' on in yer head, makes me better and happier."

"I'm glad, at least my babbling has a use." Pixie smiled.

"Aye, c'mon lass, let's get back ta Cammy an' get Juice to wash his hands, poor bugger must be sufferin' over tha mess."

The two of them went back to Church and sent a relieved Juice off to get clean and ready to help out. Pixie found the latex gloves and put them on with Chibs and then re-checked over Cammy who was semi-conscious, but stable.

"You with us, Cammy?" Pixie asked as she checked him over.

"Cúig nóiméad eile, a mhamaí." Cammy muttered, his voice slurred. Pixie looked up at Chibs with a confused expression.

"He's speaking Irish." Chibs assured her. "Told you to give him five minutes and called you 'mum'."

"Well at least he's semi-coherent." Pixie chuckled a little. Juice and Jax quickly came through the door together, both of them looking stressed.  
"Got almost everything on the list, it's just what Tara had in her kit."

"Thanks, Jackie, can you go get my bag from the dorm room, I have some of my first aid kit in there too."

Jax rushed off, giving the bag to Juice. "Want me to organise the stuff?"

"Please. Clamps, sutures and hemostatic agents are the most important." Pixie said as she started undressing the wound with Chibs.

"Hema-what?" Juice asked.

"Hemostatic, it stops the bleeding by contracting blood vessels, it could be in a liquid or foam form."

"There's something here called 'Surgiflo'."

Pixie recognised the name. "Hell yeah, that's exactly what we need."

Jax came back with Pixie's first aid kit in a skelanimals washbag. "Found this?"

"Perfect, Jackie." Pixie grinned. "Things are gonna look like that one scene from the 'Shining' with the elevator in a minute, so you may wanna go." Pixie told him. "You too, J. I can see you're struggling, bro."

"No, I wanna stay." Juice nodded, pulling on latex gloves. "I can handle it."

"Me too." Jax added. "What can I do?"

"Rings off, wash your hands, put on gloves and come back, you and J will need to help pass me things and keep Cammy stable and down." Pixie ordered. "J, we have anaesthetic? It'll be kinder for Cammy to not be awake for this."

"Rodger." Juice moved to the IV and the line of syringes he'd created and inserted the correct amount.

"Watch that heart rate monitor like a hawk, I know CPR, but that's a worst case scenario, do we have the defib on hand?"

"Aye, packed it in tha' bag." Chibs nodded. Juice pulled it out and set it up on a chair next to the IV just in case.

"Good." Pixie nodded with relief, Chibs was proud of Pixie for being able to pull herself together and organise everyone. Jax returned minus his long sleeved hoodie and put his gloves on. "Okay, boys, I'm gonna talk all three of you through this, every step of the way, so don't worry, Jax, get gause, clamps and sutures ready, J you're on monitoring the heart rate. We're gonna need some background music." Pixie looked up at Chibs who put his head back.

" _TIG_!" He bellowed. Tig flew through the door on high alert.

"Get some classic rock goin' through tha speakers, background volume, Pixie needs ta' concentrate."

"On it!" He shut the door and ran off, seconds later, Bon Jovi came through the speakers in the church and Pixie nodded.

"Okay, Chibs and I are gonna take off this gauze, Jax, get those scissor looking things with the curved comb teeth on the end." Pixie described, pointing to where Juice had laid out all the instruments from Tara's bag. Jax passed it over and Pixie set them up so she had a clear line of sight into the wound and it kept open. "Okay, I see metal, it's deep and it's nicked the artery, but hasn't gone through, thank fuck." Pixie told them, Chibs set to work cleaning the wound site and getting the blood off as much as he could whilst Jax passed Pixie the Surgiflo and she set to work applying it to the wound to stop the bleeding. "Tweezers, Jax." Pixie told him, next she explained to Chibs how to clamp the artery properly, when he understood and felt confident enough to do it, Pixie moved onto the next step. "When I pull the plug, I need you to clamp and apply more Surgiflo, ready?"  
"Aye." Chibs nodded. "On three."  
"Three." Pixie said.

"Two." Chibs counted.

"One." Pixie pulled the bullet out and Chibs got in there with the clamps. There was a spurt of dark blood as the artery gushed before Chibs could get in there and Jax and Juice wiped the area down so Pixie could see what she was doing. She passed the bullet over to Juice and then helped Chibs with the Surgiflo and investigated the wound. Once Pixie could see the tear in the artery properly, Jax set up the sutures and Chibs helped her keep the wound steady whilst she worked to close it up. "Boys, we have a closed artery." She declared.

Chibs let out a breath he didn't even realise he was holding. "You are a little saviour." He smiled at her, wiping some blood off the side of Pixie's face. "This is way beyond my wheelhouse. Way beyond."

"Well it isn't anymore." Pixie smiled. "Right, let's sew this bad boy up shall we? J, vitals?"  
"Slow but steady." He answered.

"Jax, needle and sutures, please." Pixie told him as she checked the wound over. When Jax passed her the supplies she got to work, releasing the clamps and the retractors and then sewed it shut, cleaned it and bandaged it with Chibs' help.

"We did it?" Juice asked tentatively as they tied off the bandage.

"Doctor Pixie over there did it." Jax ginned. "Proud of you, Piglet."  
"You too, Oaf. You all did amazing, I'm proud of all of you." Pixie smiled. Now Cammy was fine and out of the woods, Pixie realised just how exhausted she was. Her mind was whirling, there was nervous energy that she'd been trying to suppress throughout the whole procedure and her ADHD was making her feel tense and hyper. "Everyone wash up, then we need to put Cammy in one of the dorms to rest and finish off his IV drip and his nap."

"Use my room, sheets are clean." Jax nodded as he and Juice started making a pile of the rubbish and debris that was no longer needed and what needed to be washed and sterilised. The foursome worked to clear the room and prepare to move Cammy back onto the gurney and into Jax's room. Happy and Tig came back to help lift and manoeuvre whilst the others cleaned the room, the incontinence pads had worked to catch all the blood, so the table was clean and dry, but the pillows weren't salvageable so they were disposed of along with the rest of the trash. Once Cammy was safely in the room with Happy staying to watch the vitals and to be there when Cammy came around from the anaesthetic, Juice went for a hot shower to help himself calm down after Pixie caught his hands shaking. Pixie went to the bathroom to wash her face and arms whilst Jax fetched her some spare clothes as she'd been splattered with blood when the artery had spurted. He walked in to find Pixie sat on the floor, hands wet and bloody with her head against her knees, shaking.

"What's going on?" Jax dropped down next to her, having not seen Pixie like this before.

"Small panic attack, I'm fine." Pixie gasped.

"What can I do? You don't look fine." Jax asked, grabbing paper towels and trying to clean Pixie's hands, realising that her bandage was a lost cause.

"I just need to breathe through it." Pixie murmured. "Fuck, I'm such a crybaby."  
Jax's eyebrows raised. "Are we talkin' about the same kid here? Pixie, you just saved a man's life, killed two others and was involved in a shootout, you're allowed to panic, I'd be doin' the same." Jax reassured her. He stood up and locked the door before coming back and sitting down on the floor and putting his arm around Pixie. She turned against him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "What got you the most, hm?" He asked gently.

"Bein' scared at the bar, about losing everyone again, then worrying I was gonna do something wrong to Cammy, and all the tension in the clubhouse." Pixie answered.

"I get that, I hate all the violence, man." Jax confessed, putting his head against Pixie's as she breathed in time with him. "We're Sons, we're resilient bastards who can walk through hell and back, but I don't want to lose anyone either."

"What happened after I left with the ambulance? Ope was hostile, Tig's mad, Clay looked defeated and you looked like a kicked puppy."

Jax chuckled at Pixie's description of him. "I'm not a puppy." He nudged her gently, getting Pixie to smile a little. Jax remembered how Chibs and Tig put Pixie in their laps when she was struggling, so he crossed his legs and pulled Pixie up against him, not caring about the blood, just wanting to try and comfort his little sister. He found that he needed it just as much as she did as they clung on to each other. "It was bad, Pix." He said, his voice low and rough with emotion. "There's a war starting, and I dunno how to deal with that."

"I was afraid of that, fuck, I jumped out of one bloody battle and now I'm in another." Pixie whimpered, tears sliding down her cheeks as Jax tried to wipe them away. "I know what a Sons war is like, trust me, it's not something I ever wanted to experience again, and I don't want this club to either."

"Tig, Ope and Clay are all on the offensive side. Tig's theory is that the Nords and the Mayans have teamed up to flush us out, take over and dominate the area."  
"Aren't the Nords massive racists?"  
"Yeah, swastika's as far as the eye can see, but apparently, killing us off is more important, so important in fact, that they're willing to work with Mexicans. Tig and Ope are setting up the artillery, and calling in charters one and two for backup."

"The weapons we've got in that room aren't gonna do shit against them, and we can't exactly get more considering our Irish contact is currently recovering from surgery, and we haven't got any money to get more guns either."

"My point exactly, we're not ready." Jax nodded. "We start gathering forces and dragging in other charters, we're gonna lose men all over the place."

"Also isn't that gonna cause ATF to go mental, if we suddenly have a weapons surplus and dozens of Sons?"

"Yup. Clay thinks I'm distracted and not committed to the club."

"Coz of Abel? Or because you aren't a mindless drone agreeing with him all the time?"  
"Both." Jax smirked at Pixie's wording. "If he wanted a VP that agreed to everything, it would've been better to get him a bobble head. He's pissed that I'm trying to look at the big picture, and that I don't want to agree to a war because I'm afraid it will kill Samcro."

"As VP, you have to take into account those things, if you don't the Pres' won't see issues."

"He's not seeing the big picture, he's mad Alvarez, the Mayan leader, went after him today by sending those goons. He's pissed and wants to get back at him, rightly so, but he's not thinkin' straight."

"I'm with you on this, Jax. If we leap into this war and retaliate before we're ready, we're gonna be signing our own death warrant."

Jax looked thoroughly relieved. "Thanks, Pix. I knew you'd agree."

"It's the smartest option." Pixie nodded. "I do think we need to send a message, but right now, this club is not prepared for war, if we make a wrong step, we'll have ATF, Nords, Mayans and the cops acting as the four horsemen of the apocalypse."

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	73. War Council

** WARNING: Descriptions of violence. **

Jax and Pixie talked more about the club whilst he helped her clean up and Pixie changed her clothes into the pink sweats, panda hoodie and cat t-shirt that Jax had brought her, grateful to finally be almost completely free of blood. 

Jax stood with his back to her in a corner so she'd have privacy and they could continue their talk about how to get the other club members to realise that the Sons were not ready for war. Just as Pixie finished getting changed and bundled her soiled clothes into a pile, there was a loud bang on the door, which Pixie recognised as Tig's knock. She unlocked the door and smiled up at Tig.

"Hey, Tiggy, you okay?" She greeted. Tig kissed her cheek, then looked up to see Jax with his hands in his pockets resting against the far wall.

"What is _he_ doing here?" Tig snarled.

" _Jackie_ was bringing me a spare pair of clothes and filling me in on what went down after I left with Cammy." Pixie explained.

"Oh great. That's fucking wonderful." Tig said sarcastically.

"Tig, please don't. I'm exhausted, can we just talk this out like rational adults instead of snarking at one another?" Pixie pleaded.

"I got nothin' to say to him." Tig grunted.

"What about me?" Pixie asked, she took Tig's hand and pulled him into the bathroom. "Jax, could you go ask Chibs if he's alright to rebandage my hand?"

"Sure, darlin'." Jax nodded, walking out and shutting the door behind him.

"What were you two doing in here?" Tig asked, seeing Pixie's bundle of clothes.

"I've already told you, Tig, we talked, Jax turned around and I changed, I didn't want to be standing around covered in blood." Pixie said calmly, hands fidgeting with the cuffs on her hoodie before she went to him, needing comfort. Tig hugged her close, kissing Pixie's face gently whilst she rubbed his back. "I'm not here to fight, Tiggy, I love you." Pixie soothed.

"I know, I'm sorry, darlin', tonight's been rough. I'm so proud of you." Tig released a breath, feeling himself relax a little now he had Pixie in his arms.

"What's your take on the situation with the Nords and the Mayans?" Pixie asked, knowing that was what was on Tig's mind.

"They're trying to take us over, and we need to attack back." Tig said firmly.

Pixie pulled back to look at Tig, stroking his face. "I agree, just not right now. The club's not ready, it will crush us." Pixie kept her voice even, but her frantic energy meant she started fiddling with the zip on his hoodie.

"Oh, you're on his side." Tig growled, pulling away from Pixie and folding his arms.

Pixie shuffled from foot to foot. "It's not like that, Tiggy. I've been through a Sons war and I know firsthand that you need to be smart about it, if you go in guns blazing, we will be taken out."

"Yeah? Well so have I! I fought tooth and nail against the Mayans the first time around, fifteen years ago!" Tig roared suddenly, his frustrations and stress finally reaching breaking point. Pixie jumped at the sound, her eyes wide as her fidgeting intensified.

"Tiggy, please." Pixie tried, her voice wavering from trying to hold back tears. "I don't want to fight, I love you, but I agree with Jax, wars are only won when you use brains. I'm not saying that blood won't be shed, or that there shouldn't be any, I'm saying that we need to be strategic about it."

Tig ran his hands through his hair. "If we sit on our asses and spend our whole time plannin' the Mayans and the Nords will just trample us!" Tig growled frustratedly.

Pixie couldn't hold in her emotions any longer, she'd reached the complete end of her tether as she turned and kicked the skirting board as hard as she possibly could with her left foot, which was thankfully safe in her boot.

"You're not listening!" Pixie all but shrieked, stunning Tig. She turned on her heels and grabbed Tig's hand, towing him out of the bathroom and into the main clubhouse area. Chibs and Jax, who were already standing up after hearing Pixie's yell, looked at her wide eyed as she pointed to a chair for Tig to sit and then turned to the others. "Get everyone in here, we're having a goddamn family meeting. _Right now_!" Pixie announced in her stern VP voice. Half-Sack scrambled to his feet and sprinted up to the garage to retrieve Clay and Gemma. "Where's Bobby and Piney?"

"Both home." Jax answered.

"Either get them here or on the phone, both of them need to hear this talk."

"On it." Juice pulled his phone out and started making the calls.

"What's going on?" Chibs asked Pixie, taking her hand in his.

"Apparently, there was a declaration of war after we left with Cammy, and everyone's divided at the worst possible time, we need to talk this out." Pixie explained, she watched Chibs' eyebrows shoot up in surprise and looked over to Jax and Opie nodded at him as they pushed all the chairs and tables together to make a gathering circle for the Sons.

"What the hell's going on here?" Clay asked, storming in, hotly pursued by Gemma and Half-Sack.

"This club needs to talk, right now." Pixie explained.

"You calling a meeting, _prospect_?"

"Yes, because you weren't." Pixie snapped. "This club is one of the worst I've seen in terms of communicating with each other, you're all moping like toddlers right now."

"We are all on the same page here!" Clay argued back.

"Half your men aren't even in the same fucking library!" Pixie fired back. "This is just a family meeting, nothin' personal, if you want to call people to church, the room's free. Be my guest." Pixie challenged him.

"Just sit, Clay, hear the kid out." Jax stepped in. Seeing him sitting with Tig, Half-Sack, Chibs, Juice and Opie, Clay realised he was outnumbered and this was something everyone wanted. He sat down angrily as Pixie turned to Gemma.

"Gem, could you do me a huge favour and monitor Cammy so Happy can join the circle? They're in the dorm room."

"Sure, sweetheart." Gemma nodded, striding off, a moment later, Happy came out, eyebrow raised at Pixie, but he took his spot.

Juice was fiddling around with phones and put two on the table in the center. "Got both Bobby and Piney on their cells, they can hear what you're saying." Juice explained.

"Thanks, J." Pixie smiled briefly before taking in a calming breath and breathing it out. She was practically fizzing on the spot, so Chibs unhooked his wallet chain and passed it over for Pixie to fiddle around with whilst she spoke. "Right, We need to talk about the situation that went down after the ambulance left." Pixie started. Tig, Jax, and Clay immediately started grumpily talking over each other. Pixie pinched the bridge of her nose and looked to Chibs.

"OI!" He bellowed, silencing everyone.

"Thanks, Chibbie." Pixie smiled before walking to the bar where she took down a ceramic skull which was designed to look like it was covered in nuts and bolts with spanners making a mohawk. She walked back with it and put it on the table.

"Okay, this thing is the speaking skull, whoever holds it says their piece, and the rest of you listen. Once you've said your point, pass it to the brother on your left." Pixie announced. "Seeing as you guys are struggling, I'll explain for the guys not there. Clay wants retaliation for the assassination attempt on his life that occurred tonight. It would appear that the Nords and the Mayans have teamed up and have a common goal, taking us out." Pixie let that sink in before continuing. "The argument appears to be centred around how we respond. On one side, we have those of you who believe that we need to take the offensive approach and fire back immediately. On the other, we have those of you who want to strategize and work out what the best option is and to focus on pooling our resources and prepare first." Pixie explained, there were a few nods and murmurs from around the table, but everyone looked like they were forming their opinions and were finally ready to be rational. She passed it to Tig seeing as he was sitting on her left and he gave her an apologetic smile before taking the skull.

"We're acting like fucking kids right now, I'm sorry, darlin'." He sighed, taking her hands in his, Pixie's face was stressed and exhausted, but she was powering through it to make things right with the club, even though she'd just spent the last couple of hours saving Cammy. He felt guilty for shouting and the way he was acting, realising it was having a detrimental effect on Pixie. "My point is that if we don't act now, the Mayans and the Nords could get the upper hand, easily. We're a small charter, and both of those fucking clubs have a surplus of men, they could easily overun Charming. We need to fight back, show them that we're not to be messed with." Tig explained as calmly as he could.

"I get that, I really do, Tiggy. And I'm sorry for yelling, I'm just really keyed up right now. None of us here want to see the Mayans and the Nords take over either, but if we go in on them, with our limited resources and divided views, we're not gonna walk away from that fight." Pixie reasoned. "Pass the skull to Opie."

Once Opie took the skull, he stroked his beard. "I'm with Tig, the last time the Mayans tried a hostile takeover, fifteen years ago, Charming was a warzone. I don't want Ellie or Kenny or any other kid seeing that, we need to keep those bastards out of the borders." Opie spoke his mind.

"Again, I totally agree, no child should ever have to see that, as a child that was pulled into a territory war myself, I would never wish that on anyone. But if we aren't smart about this, one wrong move will cause someone's father, brother, uncle, nephew or son won't be coming home to the family they were trying to protect." Pixie explained. Opie nodded, seeing her take, and now that he'd had time to think, he was realising it may be better to hold back. He passed the skull to Juice.

"I wasn't there for the initial fight, but I'm with Pix on this, one hundred percent, we can't just roll up and try to take them out, that's a death sentence for sure, I can work on finding resources and intel that could take the other side down, we need to be smart with this." Juice spoke up.

"Thanks, J." Pixie smiled at her brother, watching as he passed the skull to Jax.

"A lot of you have been thinkin' that my head's elsewhere, 'coz of the shit that happened with Abel and Wendy, but I'm telling you now, my head, my priorities and my heart will always remain with Samcro. There has never been a point in my life where I've considered walking away or stepping down, and there never will be." Jax said firmly, putting a finger on his VP patch. "You guys voted me in, you _know_ I'd do anything for this club, I risked my life going after that tanker with Ope and Pix, and I'd do it again. So don't question my commitment." He growled. Pixie eyed him and patted her chest, signalling for him to take some deep breaths so he didn't work himself up, which he did, with a nod. "I firmly believe that this club isn't ready for war. We have twenty-seven k to our name, thanks to Pix, and a room full of old weapons and the stuff the ATF didn't take, that's not enough to hold us if we attack back right now. This isn't me not wanting to get bloody, this is me being genuinely concerned for the club."

Pixie caught Tig roll his eyes and cross his arms, looking away from the table. "Somethin' you wanna say?" Jax asked him, catching Tig's movement too.

Tig squirmed in his seat at being called out, especially as Pixie had a disappointed look on her face at his behaviour. "I'm sorry but I don't trust him for this kind of shit." Tig confessed looking at Pixie and then at the others. "You're good for plans and schemes, but battles? Hell no, I can't follow you for shit like that." He told Jax.

"Thanks for being honest." Pixie told him, Jax jumped to his feet, rage on his face.

"What the fuck's that supposed to mean, Trager?" He yelled, Tig got to his feet too, pushing Pixie behind him protectively as he got ready to fight Jax.

"Both of you stop it!" Pixie yelled, feeling herself losing control as the other Sons jumped up to try and pull Jax and Tig back, as they lunged for each other like animals. Seeing the chaos and her family come to blows, Pixie felt her chest constrict, and her anger reached a boiling point, she lost control as she stormed across to the bar, grabbing an empty bottle of Jack Daniels that was sat on the top and threw it as hard as she could against the floor. It exploded with a bang and a smash, causing the room to freeze as they turned to look at Pixie, breathing heavily, tears in her eyes.

"Sit. The. Fuck. Down." She seethed, hands shaking. The Sons did as they were told, not wanting to push Pixie further, she was a woman on the edge. "I am at my breaking point right now, okay? I've been through hell and back tonight, we all have, but shouting and hitting each other is _never_ going to solve this! We're not deranged animals." Pixie felt her tears fall and she wiped them on the back of her hand, shaking her head. "Just because Jax had never been in a situation like this before, doesn't mean he shouldn't be trusted in battle. I trust Jax with my life, otherwise I wouldn't have jumped off the back of his bike and onto that truck of Nords. I've seen him fight when we had to take down the carnival workers and when he fought me in the ring, he's good, he's got fire like me." Pixie said truthfully. "I know for certain that when push comes to shove, Jax can pull that trigger."

"That really how you feel, baby?" Tig asked gently, his voice was quiet and rough from seeing Pixie in the huge amount of distress that she was in now.

"It is, I promise." Pixie said firmly. "I stand behind Jax, one hundred percent."

"Thanks, Pixie." Jax said, getting up and going to her, he felt awful for snapping when he did, especially as it caused Pixie to lose it, he hadn't realised just how much Pixie trusted him. He hugged her close and kissed the top of her head.

"Alright, if you trust him, I do too." Tig nodded. "You're one of the smartest, fiercest fighters I've ever seen, sweetheart."

Pixie went to him, leading Jax back to the table, and hugged Tig, kissing his cheek. Chibs leant across and squeezed Pixie's hand gently. "I think you've got everyone into agreement, lass." He told her, looking around the room. "Are we all happy ta hold back and plan?"

Everyone except Clay put their hands up and there were two yeses from both Piney and Bobby, who'd been listening in.

"Clay?" Pixie asked.

"What?" He growled. "You want my opinion now?"

"Yeah." Pixie nodded. "Always, you're the president."

Clay scoffed. "This is ridiculous, you're standing there fiddling with that wallet chain like a stupid kid, barely listening to what any of us had to say, you're twisting their emotions to go along with what you want. You smash a bottle and preach about non-violence? I think I was wrong about you." Clay snarled. The group was silent, trying to work out what was going on.

"Clay, I have ADHD, when I fiddle, it helps me to concentrate. I listened to every single point that was raised and I'm happy to continue passing the skull around if that's what people want?" Pixie looked at the rest of the table and then back at Clay. "But they seem to be in agreement. I didn't force them into that, I just got them to talk."

"Bullshit." Clay slammed his hand on the table, standing up.

"Clay!" Jax barked.

"Enough!" Clay shouted. "I'm not listening to this." Clay made to leave and Pixie moved in front of him.

"Please, just hear me out." Pixie pleaded. "That outburst I had was just part of the ADHD, sometimes I struggle to hold back my emotions, I feel things stronger than normal people do, and tonight pushed me past the point of no return, I'm sorry for lashing out, but I couldn't stop. You guys lashed out too."

"Pixie's right, that's just how the condition affects her, and she wasn't the only one lashing out, Tig and Jax were too." Juice spoke up, he wasn't usually one to do so, but he was hating the way Clay was glaring at Pixie, and how Pixie was struggling to keep going.

"A bunch of letters doesn't mean shit." Clay roughly pushed Pixie to get around her and leave the clubhouse, Pixie couldn't help the response of pushing him back, she felt threatened by his aggressive body language and his words causing her fighting instincts to come to the surface. Clay froze up, going deathly still and silent. His head slowly turned to look down at Pixie and then Clay kicked Pixie's right leg out from under her and shoved her to the ground, hard. There was a moment of stillness as the Sons took in what they'd just witnessed. Clay had just struck Pixie, and now she was laying on the floor with a cut to her temple from glass littering it. The others jumped up, but before they could get to them, Pixie launched herself up off the floor, pouncing on Clay. She punched him in the gut and head, the force of Pixie knocked him back and he toppled back, landing on the floor with Pixie straddling his chest, punching over and over. Clay rolled them, punching back in an all out brawl. Happy and Tig lunged as Clay grabbed Pixie's neck with his big hand as he began to throttle her, Pixie kicked him from underneath, landing a hit to his groin that had the others wincing and as soon as he moved his hand from her neck, she moved and bit down right between his thumb and index finger in a desperate bid to get him off. Pixie managed to get her legs up against her chest in the struggle and kicked out with her feet, smacking Clay in the chest and launching him backwards. Happy managed to get a hold of Clay with Tig and Jax and the three of them hauled the enraged man off of the floor and away from Pixie whilst Chibs, Juice and Opie heaved Pixie off of the ground and back, pinning her as she coughed and gasped, struggling to get free.

"Clay! What the hell?" Jax barked.

"That little bitch." Clay seethed.

"Oi, tha's ma daughter ye fucker!" Chibs growled. "Go take a walk."

Happy and Tig had pure rage on their faces as they shoved Clay towards the doors leading him out into the parking lot. Jax rushed to Pixie, seeing the blood on her temple and the bruising already forming. "Pixie!"  
"I didn't mean to! He just triggered my fight response." Pixie let out a sob, her legs buckling, Opie readjusted his hold and scooped her up, sitting Pixie on the bar whilst Juice jumped up to hold her. "Did I hurt him bad?"

"Pixie, the guy just choked you." Jax couldn't believe Pixie's response.

"I don't think you hurt him badly, kiddo." Juice rubbed her back soothingly, knowing Pixie needed the reassurance. "We need to teach Clay about Pixie's ADHD, apparently."

"I was listening to you all, I promise." Pixie sniffed. "I was trying my best, I don't understand why Clay responded like that."

"Clay's stressed out, I'm not makin' excuses for what he did, because that was wrong, you only shoved back because you were afraid, I saw the panic on your face." Jax found a napkin and gently dabbed Pixie's temple.

"You did all the right things tonight, mo ghràdh. We needed to talk tha' out, and we actually came to a unanimous conclusion, somethin' tha' is usually impossible with us lot." Chibs fussed, he looked at Pixie's knuckles, seeing the purpling bruises from how hard she'd tried to defend herself.

Half-Sack, who'd stayed out of the fight in order to tell Bobby and Piney what had been happening, shuffled up with the two phones. "I'm so sorry that just went down, Pix. Piney and Bobby both want to talk, so I'm giving you Piney first because he scares me." Half-Sack explained, passing the phone over and then hugging Pixie tightly.

"Thanks, H, I'm really sorry too."

"Pixie, you did nothin' wrong." Jax argued.  
"Go tell Gemma what happened." Chibs told him, knowing Gemma probably had her ear pressed to the door, desperate to know what was happening. Jax nodded, kissed Pixie's forehead and went off to find her. Pixie put the phone to her ear.

"Hi Pines." Pixie said, her voice teary.

"Did Clay beat you?"  
"We had a scuffle, everyone's tempers are frayed over what just happened, he doesn't understand my ADHD and got mad about it." Pixie explained. "Don't hurt him, Piney, please."

"Darlin' he _hurt_ you!" Piney seethed. "You're a sweet angel, who could possibly want to hurt you?"

"A few people, actually." Pixie answered. "But I don't want anyone to hurt Clay, we still need a leader, and right now, he's our best chance of pushing the Mayans and the Nords back. I don't agree with a lot of what he does, and I don't like how he makes a lot of decisions, but now is not the time to do something about it." Pixie reasoned with him. "We start showing cracks in our club, those bastards will tear us apart."

"Smart girl." Piney said, after a tense moment. "What can I do to make it better?"  
"Come down tomorrow, I'd like to see you and hug you, if you're not busy."

"I will always make time for you, sweetheart." Piney said firmly. "I'll be there."

"Thanks, Pines, I'll look forward to it." Pixie smiled, taking comfort in Piney's deep gravelly voice.

"So will I, darlin'." Piney said, hanging up the phone and doing a swap with Half-Sack so she could speak to Bobby.

"Bobs?"

"Hey, little lady." Bobby greeted. "Sorry I couldn't be there tonight, I'm gonna talk some sense into Clay, alright?"

"Thanks Bobby, will you be down tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna help make this right." Bobby promised. "Go rest up darlin' you sound fraught and Sackie told me you're hurt too."

"Not badly, sleep well too, Presley."

"Thanks, angel."

Pixie hung up the phone and leant against Juice, feeling the exhaustion, fear and stress get to her. Juice snuggled her against him whilst Chibs fetched the medic kit for the second time and patched Pixie up. She needed paper stitches on her temple, the cut was deep, but not too serious, but her right hand was painfully swollen and sore, the knuckle hadn't dislocated, but the bruising wasn't looking happy. He rebandaged it whilst Half-Sack and Juice fussed over Pixie, trying to cheer her up and make her feel as loved as possible. Eventually Jax and Gemma came out of the bedroom, and Half-Sack went to go keep an eye on Cammy. Pixie was afraid that Gemma would go mental at the fact that Pixie and Clay had fought, but when she saw the condition Pixie was in, Gemma's heart broke for the younger woman, now that she'd gotten to know Pixie, she knew that Pixie would never want to intentionally harm someone she considered family, and that included Clay. Gemma enveloped Pixie in a warm hug.

"I can't believe he did that." Gemma fussed.

"I'm so sorry, Gem. I really didn't want to hurt Clay, but he wouldn't stop." Pixie whimpered.

"I'm gonna go talk to him, okay? Don't worry." Gemma nodded, rushing outside. There was some muffled shouting and then Clay came back in, with fresh wounds on his face, followed by Tig and Happy, who both had blood on their knuckles.

"Chibs, could you come take a look at Clay?" Gemma asked him as she lead Clay away from the bar and into the bathroom. Tig and Happy came over to Pixie who stared up at them wide-eyed.

"Oh, god. What did you two do?!" Pixie took their hands, seeing the evidence there.

"I couldn't let that lie, darlin' he _hurt_ you." Tig growled. "He'd have done the same if it was Gemma."

"I promised I'd keep you safe, and I'm not breaking that." Happy rasped. He hugged Pixie to him, feeling her small frame tremble against his. He never imagined he'd ever consider murdering Clay, but tonight was sending his mind into new and... _creative_ places.

"I know, Hap, but I don't want you or Tiggy to do anything you'll regret later. We _need_ Clay, he's the only one out of all of us that actually knows how to deal or speak with the rival gangs, and we need a leader to get us through the war." Pixie reasoned. "So please, for me, do not hurt Clay, you both are friends with him, use your words, not your fists." Happy nodded and stepped back so Tig could kiss and hug Pixie.

"Why do you have to have such a strong moral compass, hm?" Tig said fondly, but there was a hint of frustration there.

"Coz someone has to, or else you'll all turn into a bunch of Berserkers."

"As if we aren't already." Juice joked, making Pixie smile. "What's gonna make you feel safe and secure tonight? You're exhausted and need to sleep, but you're still on high alert."

Pixie fiddled with the rings on Juice's hand. "Chibs mentioned making a pillow fort earlier, I'd still really like to do that."

Chibs smiled. "We can do tha'."

"Take her home, I'll stay with the Irishman. I'm here anyway." Happy spoke up, picking Pixie up and hugging her tight before he set her down on the ground.

"I've got three couches in the den at my place." Tig looked up at Juice and Chibs. "They all have seat cushions and blankets, we could probably make a huge fort, plus I got beer."

Juice and Chibs exchanged a glance and then down at Pixie's hopeful face. "Sleepover at Tiggy's?" She asked.

"Sure, darlin'." Chibs smiled.

"We're gonna make the best fort ever." Juice grinned, sliding off of the bar.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ 


	74. The Aftermath

Pixie awoke feeling warm and safe. The TV was still on, despite the first rays of dawn peeping through the wooden shutters of the den. Looking around her, she realised that everyone had fallen asleep in the pillow fort. Chibs was laying on his side under a brown blanket, his hair was every which way and he looked relaxed and at peace which made Pixie smile fondly at her father figure. Next to him, in a star-fish position on his back was Juice, he'd kicked the blue blanket off of himself and his grey -t-shirt was riding up, showing his muscular stomach. Pixie turned to see Tig laying on his back, one leg bent up so his knee was in the air and his other was laying flat. She remembered them all sitting down together in the fort with the TV turned around on its stand so they could watch 'The Wizard of Oz' and then 'Jaws' to entertain the boys, who'd hollered at the screen at both the shark and the stupid people who ended up being eaten. Their commentary had Pixie in fits of giggles, so much so, that she'd had to stop drinking her hot chocolate after she almost choked when Chibs had roared, "Get outta tha' water! There's a bloody fish fucker!". The men had taken really good care of her, whilst also unwinding and relaxing themselves. When they'd got to Tig's they'd descended upon the den, rounding up all the cushions, blankets and pillows they could find, then fetching the kitchen chairs to make the roof high enough that the men weren't having to hunch over. Tig produced some Christmas lights from somewhere in storage and they'd wrapped them all over the roof of the fort so it looked like there were multicoloured stars in the night sky when they turned off the main room lights. Once the fort was complete, Chibs and Tig had gone to search the kitchen for food, eventually giving up and ordering Chinese and doughnuts for everyone. Juice and Pixie had stayed in the fort playing Peggle on his laptop and teasing each other if they missed shots or didn't land the ball in the money pot. When Tig and Chibs returned after they'd had a talk about the night's events, Tig had been extra attentive, snuggling Pixie against him and cooing over her, feeling guilty over their fight and what happened at the clubhouse. Pixie had assured him that she still loved him and nothing would change that, but Tig was adamant he wanted to make things better. He'd been the one to suggest the 'Wizard of Oz' seeing as it was one of Pixie's favourite films, even though he found himself scared of the Munchkins and hid his face against Pixie's neck whilst they were on screen, causing Chibs and Juice to tease him, until Juice somehow managed to get jump-scared by the Flying Monkeys.

Pixie crawled out of the fort, turned off the TV and gathered the empty mugs and Chinese cartons, taking them into the kitchen and tidying everything away. The pillow fort session had been a fantastic end to a hellish evening. She worried for Cammy, hoping that he was doing better. He'd still been unconscious when Pixie had checked on him before she'd left with Chibs, unhooking him from the IV as it had almost completely drained. Happy had promised to keep an eye on him and speed dial if anything didn't look right or the heart monitor dipped. There had been no calls, so she made herself relax and focus on getting ready for the day. Pixie decided to have a quick shower and then make breakfast for the boys, knowing they'd be ravenous when they finally woke up. She got the bandage off and started up the downstairs shower, catching her reflection in the mirror and wincing. She had a bruised cheekbone, her top lip had a cut and there was bruising on her neck. The cut to her temple was sore but looked like it had closed fully. It stung like hell under the shower, as did her right hand when she flexed it under the hot stream, trying to ease up the stiffness. Left alone with her thoughts, Pixie's mind drifted to Clay as she used her strawberry body wash. She couldn't believe how things had escalated, and yet she had almost seen it coming, it felt like things had been leading up to that point. Pixie was everything Clay didn't like, she was young, opinionated, strong-willed and not afraid to say 'no' to him. He would never be able to bend her to his will, and that lack of control seemed to threaten him. As much as she didn't trust or like him, she'd never wanted to get physical with him, unless it was in the ring. Pixie chewed her lip in worry as she wondered what today would hold for her, would she get kicked out? The Sons of Anarchy was all she'd ever known, without them, Pixie didn't know what she would do or who she'd even be, Charming had been her last ditch effort for survival and belonging, and whilst it had been rocky, every single member had become her family, and leaving them behind or not spending almost every day with them felt heart-breakingly wrong. She knew the Sons would fight for her, but ultimately the decision rested with Clay. Pixie stopped the shower and wrapped herself up in the red towel, trying to decide what to do to make things right and how to get the club united again. Last night, she got almost every single member to agree to something, which was an olympian feat in itself, and she hoped that the aftermath of that hadn't shifted anyone's minds into going back on the decision. Pixie put her prosthetic leg on and secured the towel before heading upstairs to search for clothes in Tig's massive wardrobe. Considering the guy owned five pairs of jeans and about ten t-shirts and shirts, the size seemed a bit excessive, though it did mean she had more than enough room for her clothes that had made it to his house. Her wardrobe seemed to be spread between Tig's place, the clubhouse and Chibs' house, though a few articles of clothing had gone missing from the clubhouse and she idly wondered if Juice was up to something. She had yet to see his place, and it seemed to be the most likely option. Especially as the stuff that had gone walkabouts had all been geeky graphic t-shirts of superheroes and video games that she liked, a few pairs of jeans and the batman converse that Happy hand insisted on Pixie getting seeing as he turned out to be an avid batman fan too. Pixie smiled to herself as she thought about her brothers whilst she got dressed, opting for a dark purple crop top, a pair of black cargo trousers (which were actually Juice's but had somehow ended up with Pixie's clothing) with a webbing belt to stop them from sliding, black platform boots and a lilac scrunchie so she could tie her wild hair into a ponytail. Pixie found a black bandana which she rolled and tied around her neck to hide the bruising and to also add a finishing touch to the outfit. 

Once she was happy, she went downstairs and decided on what to cook for the boys, eventually settling on waffles after she found Tig's waffle maker. Pixie felt extra hyper and ended up putting Paramore on, so she could rock out to Hayley Williams whilst she made the waffles and ended up baking cookies too, partly on impulse and partly because she wanted to bring them to the clubhouse as a peace offering. Pixie was so invested in her multi-tasking and dancing session that when Juice came up behind her and put his hand on her back Pixie yelped and spun around, eyes huge.

"Just me, _cariño_." Juice reassured her.

"I'm gonna have to put a bell on you, J." Pixie joked, hugging him good morning.

"Sorry, I smelt cookies and got hungry." Juice chuckled.

"Well, you'll have to wait until we get to the clubhouse for those, but, there's a rising stack of waffles?" Pixie offered, pointing to the mound on the plate. "I made a lot because I know you, Chibs and Tig eat like there's no tomorrow."

"How long have you been up?" Juice asked, assessing the chaotic kitchen, hands itching to organise everything as he picked up a waffle and sat down at the kitchen table.

"Dawn, I got fidgety and didn't want to wake you guys."

"Geez, kiddo, you were up until way late last night, you need more sleep than that."  
"I'll get more tonight." Pixie assured him. "I'm just a little stressed."  
"Understandable, what's getting you the most? Pix, _iron_." Juice pointed to the waffle iron which was just starting to smoke a little. Pixie darted over and rescued the browning waffle, which thankfully hadn't burnt yet, but was a little crispier than the others. She added the next round of batter and closed the iron again. "Thanks, I got distracted, and mainly the Clay situation, I don't wanna get kicked out."

"Hell will freeze over before we let tha' happen, mo ghràdh." Chibs said from the doorway as he and Tig ambled in.

"Yeah, you're one of the best Sons that this club's got, babe." Tig nodded, coming over to kiss her good morning.

"Thanks guys." Pixie smiled, feeling safer. "But I was involved in an all out brawl with the club's president, that doesn't bode well for my pending patches."

"Not to mention the fact that you were winning." Juice said proudly. "You got him off of you faster than I've seen others do it, and I'm willing to bet he now has size 6 boot prints on his chest from how hard you kangaroo kicked him.

"And that bite mark's gonna rival the one the doberman gave me." Tig smiled. "I know you feel bad, darlin', but you did what you needed to get him to back off, we're all gonna talk to him today in church today and get things hashed out."

"Aye, ye've got nothin' ta' worry abou', except tha' waffle." Chibs pointed to where the waffle iron was smoking again, Pixie squeaked and rescued it.

"This is a sad waffle." Pixie said a little disappointedly, moving the slightly burnt waffle out of the iron. Juice got up and went to the fridge, grabbing whipped cream and drew a smiley face on the waffle.

"Not anymore." He grinned, making Pixie giggle. Tig found plates and the trio dug into their breakfast whilst they talked and eased Pixie's worries and made an action plan for the day. Juice offered to help wash up whilst Tig and Chibs took showers.

"Hey, are those my cargo pants?" Juice piped up after he passed Pixie a plate.

"I think so, Tig must've thought they were mine, maybe coz' of the leg length? I dunno."

"Hey, I'm not that much shorter than him." Juice grumbled. "And I'm definitely taller than you."

Pixie giggled. "I know, Captain Obvious, I'm wearing platform boots and I'm still not on eye level with you."

Juice chuckled and bent his knees until he was level with Pixie. "Geez, you are tiny."

"Leave me be, it's useful." Pixie gently poked him.

"True, you're the grand master at hiding. Happy was lucky he found you."

"Only coz' I sneezed." Pixie giggled as she put the dry plates away. Chibs wandered in his hair damp, but in clean clothes. "Hey, Chibbie, you look more awake."

"Aye, found tha' first aid kit too, c'mere so I can have a look at ye." Chibs beckoned Pixie over to the table. She hadn't bandaged her hand or her temple, knowing Chibs would want to check them over after breakfast. He put more paper stitches on for safety and applied arnica onto the bruises on her face and hand before he rebandaged her hand, tutting to himself over how badly it was bruised, Juice lent a hand passing supplies until they were done.

"Pix, can we see your neck? I know that bandana isn't just a fashion statement." Juice asked gently. Pixie undid the knot and took it off, both men cursed as they saw the finger-shaped bruising at the base of Pixie's neck.

"Does it hurt?" Juice asked, taking Pixie's hand.

"No, they just look bad." Pixie tied the scarf back into position as Tig came in.

"We need to get to the clubhouse, Gem just called, Clay's been taken in for questioning."

"What?" Chibs asked.

"Apparently Darby was hit last night too. And they found the two dead Mayans we killed at the Irish bar dumped in a ditch half a mile outside of Charming."

"Wasn't Darby supposed to be buddying up with the Mayans?" Pixie asked him.

"I thought so yeah, none of this is makin' sense."

"Oh boy." Juice rubbed his temple. "Let's get goin' then."

The group packed everything up and Tig found Pixie a Tupperware box for the cookies she made for the Sons and Juice put them in his backpack. They got on their bikes, with Pixie riding on the back of Tig's and sped to the clubhouse, trying to assess the situation. 

☠️☠️☠️

When they got there, Jax and Opie were already waiting for them, Opie looked tense, which worried Pixie. As the others went inside, Pixie grabbed his arm, pulling him back so they could talk outside.

"What's up, brother?" She asked him, towing him to a picnic bench and sitting cross-legged on the table whilst he sat on the seat so they were pretty much eye to eye.

"You clocked that better than Jax." Opie said with a smile. "I'm supposed to be at the mill right now."

"And why aren't you?"  
"Because the club needs me."

"So do your wife and kids, Opie, you made a promise to them."

"I know, I just..." Opie trailed off, looking down.

Pixie gently put her hands on either side of Opie's face, gently lifting it up to face her. "Opie, you are a good man, a good father, and a good Son. Whatever crap your mind is telling you, tell it to shut the hell up, because you're not a failure." Pixie said carefully, making sure her words sunk in.

"You're a mind reader, kid." Opie smiled. "With Clay not here and the club on the verge of a war, I just feel like I should be here."

"This club will still be standing when you get back from your shifts, okay? Donna and the kids love you, but they need you right now, you have to keep your promises to them."

"I know, all our fights are about money, I need to get back into the club."

"This club has twenty-seven K to its name and an impending war, money isn't going to be stable for a long while, but you know what is?"

"What?"

"Your job." Pixie said firmly. "There's gonna be plenty of opportunities for you to get yourself back into the club, but you've only got one shot at keeping the job up at the mill, so get up there, okay?"

"I don't wanna spit sawdust ten hours a day." Opie grunted, kicking the side of the table.

"You think I like scraping engine grease out of my hands every evening?" Pixie asked him. "I've worked over time pretty much every week since I got here keeping the garage running with the other mechanics because I know for damn sure that earning straight is the only way to have a steady income. Yeah, the club earns big bucks by doin' outlaw shit, but it's not stable and it's not secure. If you stop your job at the mill, and the club runs into trouble or the gun running is suspended, what then, hm?" Pixie asked, Opie ducked his head. "Ope, you're smarter than this, brother. The outlaw life is the only life we know, and it's the only one we have in our hearts, but we also have brains too and we gotta use them." Pixie explained sternly whilst Opie stared down at the concrete.

"You said that was nicer than Donna ever did."

"That's because she's a stressed out mother of two who just wants her husband back and to not have to worry about keeping a roof over her family's head."

"I want things to work with her, I really do." Opie confessed. "I just keep fucking up."

"That's because you're doubting yourself and becoming irritated and stressed. You both are, and from the sounds of it, neither of you are communicating properly."  
"You sound like a therapist." Opie remarked, putting a hand on Pixie's knee.

A lightbulb appeared in Pixie's mind. "You two ever thought about marriage counselling?"

Opie scoffed. "You serious? I don't want some crackpot professor commenting on my love life."

"Do you want a divorce?"

"Hell no!"  
"Well that crackpot professor may be the only way of saving you and Donna and working on your relationship. All marriage counsellors do is provide a safe space for couples to talk about their issues and work towards resolutions without yelling. They also work on the emotions and self-esteem issues within the couple, and you both could definitely do with that."

"I mean, that doesn't sound too bad." Opie said after a moment.

"Okay, well get your butt off to the Mill, and I'll talk to Bobby, that guy has connections to just about everyone, he's bound to know of a Sons friendly counsellor."

Opie nodded, feeling calm and secure for the first time in a while. "Thanks kid, I gotta talk to you more often."

"Same, brother." Pixie smiled as Opie stood up and patted her shoulder before getting on his bike and riding off in the direction of the mill. Jax came out and raised an eyebrow at Pixie.

"Where's he goin'?"

"His shift at the Mill."  
"Lemme guess, you had one of your talks again." Jax chuckled as he followed Pixie back inside.

"Maybe." Pixie smiled.

"There's the little lady!" Bobby greeted, getting up from his chair. "How's she doin'?"  
"Much, much better, how 'bout you, Presley?"  
"I'm doin' just fine, don't you worry 'bout lil old me." Bobby said playfully.

"Good, can I talk to you? I need your help."  
"Sure, c'mon." Bobby put his arm around her and led Pixie into the spare dorm, sensing Pixie didn't want to disclose whatever was on her mind to the others. Once they were seated on the bed, Pixie explained the talk she had with Opie and her idea about the counselling.

"I know of one in the neighbouring town from here, her name's Janet Lebowski, real nice lady, couldn't save my last marriage, but then again, that was a marriage made in hell, disaster from start to finish, but she's successfully dealt with a few Sons from Nevada. Ope and Donna have a real good shot at makin' things work too. Only issue is cost, she charges way more than the Winstons can afford right now."

Pixie thought for a moment. "Hey, where's the money from my work at the garage and the clubhouse going to?"

"Set you up a bank account a while back so you'd have it if you needed it, you're actually earning a lot more than the others with the amount of hours your doin'." Bobby explained. "Why?"  
"Would the amount in there cover a few sessions for the Winstons?"

Bobby's eyebrows shot up. "Well, I mean, yeah, it'd tide them over for a good while, but is that really what you wanna do with all that cash?"  
Pixie shrugged. "I'm not using it, I got all I need. Make a call to Janet and register an interest for the Winstons, and then get in touch with Donna and Opie if she agrees to it."

"Opie's gonna ask where the cash came from, he'll refuse if he knows it's from you or any of us."

"Tell him she's not charging because it's a favour for the Sons or something, and then tell her not to mention the costs to Donna or Opie because the club's covering it."

"You've got a heart of gold, girlie." Bobby said fondly.

"I just want to repay Opie, he's always been there for me, and he really needs the help. I'd do the same for any other brother in need."

"Your hugs and support are all we need, sweetheart, that and your VP attitude because I think you're one of the few people that's actually gotten the Sons to behave for more than about five minutes." Bobby chuckled. "I got somethin' to show you, by the way, only reason I wasn't here last night was coz I went to the tattoo parlour." Bobby explained, taking off his kutte and unbuttoning his shirt so he just had on the white t-shirt he wore underneath it. Pixie spotted the new tattoo under the plastic wrapping on his right upper arm, Bobby had gotten the snake and guitar neck design that she'd done for him, complete with the "Rock 'N' Roll" banner underneath.

"Bobby! That's so cool!" Pixie exclaimed, leaning in for a closer look.

"I didn't think I'd ever want another tattoo after my reaper and the snakey-skull thing." Bobby teased, quoting Pixie's description of his iconic arm tattoo. "But when I saw your design I just thought it was perfect."

"That's so sweet." Pixie smiled. "I'm glad you love it enough to get it tattooed." Pixie said happily as Bobby put his shirt back on. Suddenly there was a deep scottish roar of " _PIXIE!_ " from the main area of the clubhouse, Pixie was startled so bad she tripped over her right foot trying to get up from the bed and tumbled to the floor, Bobby chuckled and opened the door, sticking her head out into the corridor.

"In here, Chibs, you just scared your kid so bad she fell." Bobby informed him, there were heavy footfalls and Chibs appeared in the doorway as Pixie untangled her legs and sat up.

"Sorry, lass. Cammy wants ta' see ye." Chibs said, pulling Pixie to her feet with Bobby and putting his arm around Pixie's shoulder, leading her down the hall to the dorm Cammy was currently occupying, they went in to see Juice sat in an armchair next to Cammy, talking to each other.

"I did see your ass, and touch it, but y'know, it's not gay or anything, it was coz' y'know, you got shot." Juice explained awkwardly.

"J, you're digging yourself a hole." Pixie giggled. Juice looked up, relieved to see Chibs and Pixie.

"This the feek who saved my life?" Cammy greeted.

"Feek? And yeah, how are you feeling" Pixie asked as Juice pulled Pixie to sit down on his lap.

"Irish slang fer a pretty girl." Cammy smiled. "I'm feeling pretty grand fer a tool who got shot in the ass."

Pixie giggled. "Don't sell yourself short, Cammy. I'm glad to hear you're doing better, and talking coherently too."

Cammy chuckled. "Yeah, thought for sure I was a goner when I saw all that blood at the bar."

"You were damn lucky, the bullet nicked your femoral artery." Pixie explained. "And it wasn't just me that saved your ass, literally, Chibs, Juice and Jax all helped too. I couldn't have done what I did without them." Pixie said truthfully, looked over fondly and Chibs and Juice, seeing how Juice had his dopey grin that he got whenever he was praised.

"Shite, thank you so much fer savin' my life, sweetheart, and you fellas." Cammy put out his hand and Pixie held it, giving him a comforting squeeze.

"You're welcome, I'm glad I could help, and if there's anything else we can do, let us know, okay?"

Cammy nodded, the shifted slightly, like he was debating on whether or not to ask or tell them something.

"Wha' is it?" Chibs asked gently, coming closer.

"I need you guys ta do me a favour." Cammy said with a sigh. "Brenan Hefner, Port commissioner, he's gotta be dealt with."

"He's the bastard that killed McKeevy?" Pixie asked.

"Yeah." Cammy nodded.

"Well there's plenty 'o' time fer tha'." Chibs nodded. "Ye'll be back on yer feet soon enough."

"No, no. It has to happen before monday. He's gonna sic port dogs on our shipment. You gotta take him out. You promise me tha'." Cammy said firmly, looking up at Chibs.

"Aye, I promise ye, don't ye worry abou' tha." Chibs agreed, soothing the agitated Irishman.

"If ye do, I'll be more than happy ta give ye yer money back, plus a month's worth of weapons fer free. Will ye tell Clay?"

"Aye, I'll talk to him okay, now ye focus on resting, ye need ta gather ye strength." Chibs rubbed his shoulder and gently pushed Cammy back against the pillows. There was a knock on the door and Gemma appeared with a tray full of food and drink for Cammy. She smiled at everyone, catching eyes with Pixie and seeing the girl's bruised face.

"Hey, glad to see you're awake, Cammy." Gemma greeted. "Hope you're hungry, made this especially for you last night." Gemma brought the lap tray over and set it up whilst Pixie, Juice and Chibs got out of her way and went out of the dorm, shutting the door behind them. Juice looked up at Chibs, a little wide-eyed.

"'Take him out'. That means, like, kill him?" He said in a low voice. Pixie had to bite her lip from laughing, in some ways, Juice was just as pure as she was.

Chibs kept a straight face too. "No, I think what it means is dinner and a movie." He answered sarcastically. At which point Pixie did giggle, causing Juice to blush a little.

"We're Sons J, not a dating service." She said gently, rubbing his arm.

"I know, I know, I goofed for a second." Juice grumbled.

"You're a goofy goober." Pixie grinned.

Juice's eyes lit up. "We're goofy goobers."

"Goofy, goofy, goofy, goofy goober!" Pixe and Juice chanted together, grinning madly before laughing together. Chibs raised an eyebrow.

"I-I don't even wanna know wha's goin' on with ye muppets." He said with a laugh before walking down the corridor to talk to Bobby.

Juice put his arm around Pixie. "We gotta watch Spongebob together."

"We do!" She giggled. "I'm surprised you know it so well."

"Hey, I'm not that much older than you, plus I like cartoons, I watch them with Hap sometimes." Juice explained as they walked into the main clubhouse area where Tig and Piney were checking weapons over. The second Pixie saw Piney, she let out a squeal of joy, running at him, Piney heaved himself to his feet and hugged her so tightly to him that Pixie let out a little squeak, at which point he loosened up, but didn't let her down.

"Sorry, darlin', I'm just really relieved to see you." Piney smiled. "You doin' alright?"

"Yeah, a little banged up, but nothin' I can't handle." Pixie assured him. "What's going on here?"

"Just working out what we have and haven't got, we'll have the other Sons from the other Charters under foot soon." Piney told her, setting Pixie down.

"Which ones are coming?"

"State presidents and VP's from Washington, Nevada and Utah, and no doubt some of their charter Sons." Tig explained, coming over to give Pixie a kiss on her cheek.

Pixie wrapped her arms around his middle. "Maybe I should've baked more cookies for them."

"Nah, screw 'em, let's eat the cookies before they arrive." Tg said eagerly.

"That's a plan I can stand behind." Piney grinned, eager to try more of Pixie's baked treats.

"Speaking of." Pixie turned around to look as Juice was leaning against the bar. "J, are you hoarding the cookies in your backpack?"

Juice wiggled. "What cookies?" He said with fake-innocence.

"The chocolate fudge cookies I made especially for our Charming brothers?"

"Doesn't ring a bell." Juice teased.

"Hand them over or I'm getting my pillow." Pixie teased back, making Juice laugh as he went to get his bag from a table and unzipped it, retrieving the Tupperware box stuffed to the brim with the treats.

"Okay, fine, they smell too good not to eat anyways." He relented as he passed the box to Pixie who pulled the lid off and set them down. Within moments, Bobby, Chibs, Half-Sack and Happy had all appeared as the smell of fresh cookies wafted into the air. All the Sons descended upon the box like a pack of wolves, each taking a cookie and chowing down.

"Geez, I was finding it difficult trying to get everyone in the same place, turns out, all I needed was a box of cookies." Pixie joked.

"You gotta give me the recipe little lady, de-lic-ous!" Bobby said after he swallowed his first bite."

"I can definitely do that." Pixie smiled as she leant forwards and took three. "I'm gonna give these to Jax, Gem and Cammy before you guys pig the lot." She told the boys before walking over to the dorm and knocking on the door. Pixie gave Gemma and Cammy their share before she started searching for Jax, tracking him down in her old dorm room, seeing as his was occupied. Pixie opened the door, seeing Jax in the armchair with the black folder full of paper, and a deep frown on his face.

"At this rate, I'm gonna have to change your nickname to Eeyore." Pixie greeted.

Jax looked up and smiled as she shut the door and passed him the cookie before sitting down on the arm of the chair. "Bad story?" She asked, tucking some of JAx's hair behind his ear.

"More like history repeating itself. Can you promise me to keep this a secret?"

"Of course, Jackie, what's up?" Pixie looked at him with love and concern.

"This book, it was written by my dad, it's his memoir on starting up the Sons of Anarchy."

"That's so cool!"

"I thought so too, at first, it's like having my old man here to give me advice whenever I needed it, but now, it just feels like I'm on the same route to destruction as he was, we're dealing with the same violent shit, all these years later."

"And you feel powerless to stop it?" Pixie asked, already knowing the answer, seeing as she was feeling the same way. "I get what you mean, back at Highton, I could see that every turn we were taking over there was leading us closer and closer to our doom, and nothing we did was ever going to stop that. Charming feels like we still may have a chance to save it though, I have to have faith and hope in that, or else we may as well burn this place to the ground ourselves." Pixie explained.

"I get that, it's hard to remain hopeful when it feels like we're being steered in the wrong direction."

"I know, but all we can do is keep trying new and different things, stop making the same mistakes as the Sons before us. We're the next generation, and it's up to us." Pixie told him, rubbing Jax's back. There was a knock at the door and Juice's voice sounded from the other side.

"Jax? Pix? Clay's back and all the visiting Sons have arrived too."

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	75. Patches & Problems

As soon as Clay stepped foot though the door, Pixie winced at his appearance. He had a purpling black eye, a cut bottom lip and a surly attitude from everything that had been going on. Pixie noted his hands were stiff and swollen, and looked as though they were causing him great pain, she wondered if his punches had caused the arthritis there to flare up, though she wasn't going to comment on it. Gemma fussed over him, getting him a drink and making sure he was alright whilst the Charming Sons, apart from Half-Sack and Pixie, huddled in a corner with their heads together, working something out. Pixie and Half-Sack were helping Gemma, Cherry and some other women associated with the club to hand out drinks and snacks to the visiting Sons.

"You okay, H?" Pixie asked as she went to get more supplies with him from the utility room, he'd been extra quiet today and nervy and Pixie's alarm bells were going off. "Talk to me, bud." She said gently, catching his arm.

Half-Sack swallowed hard. "I...I think I might be in trouble with Clay, like, real bad trouble."

Pixie looked up at him, puzzled as she fidgeted with the end of her belt. "Why?"  
"Well, after I got home and told Cherry what happened, I got real mad, like _really_ mad about what he did to you. You're the sweetest person I know, aside from Cherry, and I felt like I hadn't done enough."

"H, brother, just having you as my family is enough for me, you don't have to try and prove your worth, you already mean so much to me." Pixie assured him.

"I probably should've called you instead of what I actually did, but I don't regret what I did either, just the fact that Clay's mad as hell."

"H, what did you do?" Pixie asked him, wide-eyed.

"After Juice told me you had ADHD coz' I was asking why it was so hard to keep up with you, I bought a book coz' I wanted to know more, and work out how to help you, if I could, because you're one of my best friends and my sister." Half-Sack explained. "I got the book 'ADHD for Dummies' and I read the whole thing with Cherry, working it all out together."

Pixie's heart melted. "H, that's ridiculously sweet, you're amazing." She smiled.

"I'm glad you think so." Half-Sack said, looking a little more relieved. "When I saw how ignorant Clay was being about your condition, I realised he needed some educating, so I rode over to his house with the book, and ended up yelling at him, I was scared shitless the entire time and genuinely thought he was gonna shoot me. Especially when he read the title and thought it was a deliberate insult to him, calling him a 'dummy'." Half-Sack explained as Pixie bit her lip. When Half-Sack messed up, he did so spectacularly, she had to give him that.

"It's so kind of you to stand up for me, H, it really is, and I'm so honoured that you'd do all that for me, especially when Clay scares you so bad." Pixie hugged him. "Did he yell at you badly?"

"Yeah, to the point Gemma had to come get him to stop, he told me I wouldn't ever be a Son and a load of other stuff." Half-Sack said, crestfallen.

"Hey, don't you dare let him crush you like that, H. You are ten times the man Clay will ever be, you have so much going for you, and I'm so proud of you, okay? You're just as much of a Son as I am, and I'm not gonna let you get kicked out or lose out on getting a top rocker, okay?" Pixie said adamantly.

Half-Sack smiled at Pixie's fierce acceptance of him. "Thanks, sis." He said fondly. "Let's get back to workin', last thing we want is to piss him off anymore."

"Amen to that." Pixie gave him a fist-bump and helped take out more beers from the fridge to the main room, finding the Charming Sons still huddled together. Pixie went over to them and they stopped talking to see what she needed. Pixie relayed what Half-Sack had just disclosed, and her worry for the future of both his propsect-ship, and hers. The Sons found the humour in Half-Sack's accidental dig at Clay's intelligence, laughing before reassuring Pixie that they'd help him.

"We're gonna talk to him, lass, don't ye worry, you do ye job fer now." Chibs assured her, though there was something in his eyes that made Pixie's stomach knot, the Sons were preparing for a confrontation with Clay. He was ushered into the church by the other Sons, wanting to put what happened the night before to rights. Pixie and Half-Sack tried to go after them, but Chibs stopped them both, telling them to say put and not get into any more trouble.

After half an hour, Half-Sack and Pixie were growing worried, they'd distracted themselves and the other Sons by putting music on and keeping the visitors happy, with Pixie having to repeatedly decline flirtations and offers, stating that she was a Son _not_ a hang-about. When Pixie had gone to the utility room, she'd heard muffled shouting and a fierce argument erupting from the other side of the door, which made her worry and panic intensify. Cherry and Gemma had both sensed that Half-Sack and Pixie were on edge, so they kept them talking and working as best they could.

Now Pixie sat with her leg bouncing agitatedly as she looked down the corridor to where Half-Sack had just been summoned into church, whilst she had been told to stay at the bar and wait by an angry looking Jax. He hadn't seemed happy at all and wouldn't look her in the eye. Pixie's anxiety was causing her to worry, she wondered if she'd taken too many risks, if she'd spoken her mind too much, called shots that weren't hers to make in the first place. At the same time, she knew that she couldn't have done things any other way, she had to live her truth. She also hoped she hadn't cost Half-Sack his membership either, Pixie would hate to be the cause of him losing out on being a fully fledged Son, she couldn't deny the fact that he'd been trying to be more riskier, had taken more chances and had become more confident since he'd gotten closer to Pixie. He was like her little brother, and she just hoped she was leading him in the right direction. She watched the clock anxiously, they'd been in there with Half-Sack for ten minutes and she'd heard a few raised voices, but it was quiet now. Which was never a good sign. Her fingers spun the silver skull ring around her thumb as she tried to come up with what she'd do if things didn't work out in Charming after all. It would break her heart, but she thought about going up to Indian Hills, explaining the situation with Jury and seeing if it was possible to start again there. Jury liked her and she saw he'd been a hell of a good leader, he'd for sure hear her out.

The church door opened and Jax appeared, he looked mad still.

"Get in here. _Now_." he growled at her.

This was not the Jax that Pixie knew. "Am I in trouble?" she asked defensively, she still got up all the same and trotted over. Jax didn't answer her, just grabbed her by the back of her kutte and hauled her through the door, slamming it behind them. Everyone was seated at the table, apart from Half-Sack who was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands, his kutte was nowhere to be seen. Pixie swallowed thickly, watching as everyone turned to look at her and Jax went to his seat, only he didn't sit, just loomed over Clay like a bodyguard. Pixie hugged her arms to stop the Sons from seeing her hands shake, Chibs was looking at her sternly, but Tig and Juice weren't meeting her eyes. Pixie felt sick.

"Since you got here, you've caused so much chaos and trouble, you've put yourself in numerous dangerous situations that could have cost you your life. Explain yourself." Clay growled.

Pixie cleared her throat. "Explain myself? You all know why I do the things I do. I _always_ have the club's best interest at heart and I'll do anything to protect my brothers, even if it means putting myself directly in the line of fire. I would die for this club, because this club saved me." Pixie said firmly. "There isn't one member at this table that I wouldn't take a bullet for. Even you, Clay. I know what happened last night was terrible. It was a culmination of months of us constantly bouncing static off of each other until we caused an explosion, and I do want to make that right. All my chaotic actions have been attempts to protect the club and do good by it. Sure, I don't always think things through, but sometimes the most riskier option has the biggest payoff. For example, I made sure that the One-Niners didn't know I was a Son, just in case things went south. I would never, _ever_ intentionally endanger the club, or its members. And how I jumped onto the tanker, I know that could have gone badly, but I'd do it again without hesitation if it meant helping the club. I love this club and I will do anything I can to protect it." Pixie finished, not sure what else to say.

"Sure you're not just saying bullshit to save your skin?" Clay grunted.

Pixie glared at him. "I promise you, I'm telling the truth, _my_ truth. My actions towards this club prove that." Pixie said adamantly. "I have never broken a promise to you all, and I'm not about to start now."

Clay and Jax exchanged a look. "Take off your kutte." Jax said, his voice deep and dark.

Pixie took a step away from the table, her eyes going to Chibs, who nodded his agreement. "I would sooner die than surrender my kutte." Pixie growled.

"Take it off, that's an order!" Clay barked, standing up and slamming his palms down on the table. Pixie jumped at the sound, her hands balling into fists defensively. She sensed he was testing her, seeing if she'd obey him. Although Pixie didn't trust Clay all that much, her other brothers had her complete trust, they all knew how much her kutte meant to her. She decided to trust them, hoping that she wouldn't regret it. She slowly took off her kutte and laid it reaper side up on the table. She put one hand on the reaper and the other on her heart.

"I'm telling you, Clay. All of you, this club is everything to me. I've done nothing but protect and serve it, and I swear on the reaper, I will continue to do so until whenever the reaper or Mayhem come to collect me." Pixie urged, her voice firm, showing that without a doubt, she was telling the truth.

"It's over for you." Clay growled.

Pixie's eyes widened, trying to understand what he was implying.

"No." She breathed. As Pixie reached for her kutte to grab it and probably flee to her bike, Jax slammed his hand down on top of it, pinning her kutte under his big hand so she couldn't tug it away. Pixie looked at him with betrayal in her eyes.

"It's over." Jax repeated.

Pixie looked down and saw pieces of white and black fabric under his palm, she looked back up at him, confusion on her face until Jax's angry scowl turned into a cheeky grin. He lifted his hand up and Pixie realised what he'd been holding. It was her new patches showing she was now a full member of the Charming Sons of Anarchy. Pixie gasped, not quite believing what she was seeing until the Sons all grinned and started clapping.

"Welcome aboard, Pixie." Clay nodded. "Your time as a prospect is over."

"Jax! You bastard!" Pixie squealed, she just _knew_ he was behind this stunt, she jumped the table, leaping on him in a tackling hug, making the Sons laugh and cheer. Jax caught her, chuckling as she hugged him tight then smacked his chest.

"Had to get you back somehow." Jax grinned. "Especially now you're fully one of us, our little Sister of Anarchy." Jax teased.

"Oh, I'm gonna get you back so hard!" Pixie exclaimed. Jax set her down and she jumped at Clay for a hug. "Thanks for believing in me, and giving me a second chance, I want to make this right between us." She told him.

Clay nodded. "I want to apologise for last night too, it's been forcefully brought to my attention that I was a bastard."

"A colossal bastard." Jax put in, making the others laugh.

Pixie giggled. "Should we call it even, Tin-Man? Considering neither of us look any better?" she pointed to her bruised face, cut lip and bruised hands and then back at his almost matching injuries.

Clay smiled at her, properly. "Sure, kid.

Half-Sack stood up from the couch, grinning madly too as Pixie moved away from Clay and hugged him, sensing he was desperate to talk to her. "Were you in on all this?"

"Course!" He grinned. "Though I had to hide my kutte and these or it would spoil the surprise." He grinned, pulling his kutte out from behind the sofa and taking out fresh patches from inside his pocket.

Pixie squealed and jumped up and down in excitement. "You got patched too?!"  
"Yeah!" Half-Sack grinned. Pixie pounced on him with such a force that he lost his balance and went over onto the sofa with a yelp.

"Hell yeah!" Pixie roared, sitting up on him, grabbing his shirt. "I'm so proud of you!" She exclaimed.

"Thanks!" Half-Sack laughed, before Pixie jumped off of him, giddy with adrenaline and excitement.

"There's one more thing we wanna give you, Pixie." Clay said, nodding to Bobby who pulled one last patch out of his kutte, passing it to Pixie. She looked down at the small rectangular patch with the words "WOMAN OF MAYHEM" embroidered onto it, matching the iconic "MEN OF MAYHEM" patches that a few of the Sons wore.

"You've killed for the club, twice now, one to prove your worth, and the other to save my life. We wanted to acknowledge that." Clay explained as Pixie felt the overwhelming love and support in the room for her.

"Wow! I genuinely didn't expect this one." Pixie said, allowing herself to feel proud of her achievements for just a moment.

"You deserve it, baby." Tig said firmly, knowing that that was the way Pixie's mind was heading.

"Thanks, and just for the record, I'd do what I did for any one of you, I'm just as protective over you grumpy guys as you are of me. We're family forever and I will continue to care for you guys, in the only way I know how." Pixie smiled. "Chaotically, and with love." Pixie giggled as the men chuckled with her. She went to Chibs who had his arms out for her.

"Tha's ma lass!" He cheered, a massive smile on his face.

"You scared me with that prank." Pixie scolded him, gently smacking his arm.

"Had ta get ye back for all tha' times ye've scared me doin' all your crazy stunts an' shite." Chibs joked. "I'm so proud of you, swee'har'." Chibs kissed her temple before letting Bobby, Happy and Piney get their turn of hugs and congratulations before Tig swooped in and picked Pixie up, bridal style and kissed her hard.

"Told you that you'd get your patches." He said smugly. Pixie giggled,playfully rolling her eyes and watching the others congratulate Half-Sack who was almost fizzing on the spot from elation at the fact he was fully accepted into the family. Tig put her down so she could do a goofy happy dance with Juice, the pair of them over the moon. Pixie looked up at Jax, realising Opie wasn't there.

"Does Ope know?"

"Yeah, we called him on his break and told him our plan and what his vote was, he was just as happy as us to vote you both in, he's gonna bring Donna down to the party tonight."

"Ooh! That's gonna be so fun!" Pixie exclaimed, making the others laugh.

"Before we do the fun stuff, we got one more meeting." Clay announced. "New blood, go get the Presidents and the VP's in here, then take a seat on the couch."

Pixie and Half-Sack nodded, scooting out. They made the announcement and ushered the correct people in, the room becoming rapidly more crowded.

When everyone was settled, and Juice had Opie listening via a phone call, Clay brought them all up to speed on the events of the past forty-eight hours, emphasising how there'd been a botched assassination attempt on him. The mood in the room rapidly changed from jovial, back to tense and serious. Pixie ended up having to sit on Half-Sack's lap so they could seat as many Sons as possible. When Clay was done explaining, he let his words sink in before continuing.

"What happened last night, can never happen again." Clay said slowly and seriously, pointing a finger down at the table for emphasis. There were a couple of agreeing murmurs and head nods before he continued. "Not just someone trying to off me, but bodies dropping in Charming 'cause of us." Clay finished as people lit up their cigarettes and drank beer to soothe their nerves.

Tig spoke up, addressing the guests. "We had _nothin'_ to do with that hit on the Nords." He spoke loudly and firmly in his authoritative voice, blue eyes sparking.

"Mayans went after me, _and_ Darby, alright? Different targets, same war."

The room nodded and murmured in agreement again, Pixie caught Tig's eye and gave him a small comforting smile.

"If we fire back, we can't stop the blowback from hittin' home." Clay explained. Pixie couldn't see Jax's face, but his posture was tense as he listened to Clay, nodding his head with the others. After a pause, Clay continued. "I sat down with Alvarez." Clay announced.

"What?" The word seemed to come from multiple different sources, but hung in the air like a frantic fly as everyone absorbed what Clay had said, and what that meant. Pixie knew that for something that serious, Clay should've brought that up with the Charming Sons, and taken Tig or at least _somebody_ with him. Piney's eyes seem to open wider and he leant forwards, thinking exactly the same as Pixie.

Tig's mind was scrambling, trying to make sense out of it all. "What? Just the two of you?"

"Where?" Jax asked next.

"In Unser's cage." Clay explained. Half-Sack nudged Pixie for clarification.

"Holding cell." Pixie murmured into his ear, keeping her voice down so she didn't interrupt.

"We, uh-" Clay said, trying to phrase his words correctly, finding it difficult under the scrutinous gaze of the Charming brothers, and the visiting members. "We discussed our outstanding issues." Clay stated as Piney looked over to Pixie to help ground him, and then at Jax to silently show his disapproval. "We made a deal." Clay continued.

"What kind of deal?" Bobby asked, pushing his glasses up a little further on his nose.

"We sell them guns, they settle all their beefs with all of us, any territory hassle, any business disputes, it all lands in our favour." Clay finished. Pixie was gobsmacked that Clay would decide to do something that monumental without a single word to any of them, from the looks on all her brother's faces, and especially Tig's, none of them had any inkling that this was going to happen. Pixie wondered if Clay had actually taken what had been discussed the previous night, more seriously than he had originally let on. Maybe he'd seen how eventually none of them had wanted violence, and he'd decided to try and amend that. Pixie hoped that was the case, but with Clay, she was never sure of his motives.

Piney was the first to speak up after a tense pause. "You made that call, _without_ a vote?" He asked, accompanied by hushed agreements. Piney's blue eyes were harsh as he gazed at Clay with a mixture of anger, disbelief and distrust.

"I set it up." Clay said calmly, but with an edge to his voice that sounded like controlled anger at being called out. "We vote on it now." Clay announced, leaning back in his chair. "If this thing passes, you all sit down with the Mayans in your own territories, you work stuff out, take the win." Clay explained with a nod. As Pixie fiddled with Half-Sack's hand, she wondered if she would have to explain to the president of Carson City, Nevada that a couple of Mayans in Secret Town wanted her dead, and tried to attack at the gas station. That would certainly be an interesting conversation.

"What about Laroy and the Niners?" Juice spoke up, leaning around Bobby so Clay could see him clearly. "We've had a deal with them for years, that we don't sell to the Mayans."

Jax turned to him. "Juice, Laroy ain't got no loyalty to us." He told him. "He's been buying from other dealers, he reneged on the AK sale. Ain't no reason we can't branch out." Jax finished, Juice nodded, agreeing, though his eyes still looked worried. Tig shook his head too, in clear disagreement, Pixie hoped this wouldn't start another fight between Jax and Tig, just in case, she sent Tig a warning glance.

"The peace with the Mayans could start something a lot worse with the Niners." Bobby warned.

"We'll deal with that fire when it catches." Clay drawled, it looked as though he'd already made up his mind, and wasn't going to be swayed from it, or take any other concerns about it seriously. Pixie shook her head looking down, a movement Chibs and Tig caught. Pixie did not like how Clay was handling this, at all.

"You know, these assholes tried to kill you, man." Tig spoke up, his blue eyes worried and frustrated. "We're supposed to pretend that just didn't happen?" Pixie thought back to the bar, how close Clay had been to being taken out, how she'd cut the throat of the Mayan whilst Tig shot at him to get him to go down. She shivered and Half-Sack tightened his grip on her, knowing what Pixie was thinking about, because his mind was back there too.

"No." Clay answered Tig, leaning in close to him and looking at him directly in the eye, showing how serious and determined he was. "That debt gets settled. But not by us." He pointed a finger at Tig, before turning to address the others in the room. "It's gotta be some outside charter." He explained, turning to look at Happy directly. "You up for it, Hap?"

Happy nodded without hesitation, taking pride in his duty and his... _craft_. "I'll do this thing. It'll be perfect." He assured Clay, making sure he knew he could put his faith in him, and that his beef with how Clay had treated Pixie was over with, now that Clay had put things to rights.

"Of that, I have no doubt." Clay nodded, smiling at his friend. There were a couple of murmurs of agreement from around the room. Once they settled, Clay looked around at everyone. "Everybody in favour of the Mayan deal?" He announced, before putting up his hand to signal the voting had begun. Everyone slowly put up their arms, Pixie and Piney exchanged glances, both deep in thought about the potential violent consequences of what would happen if the Niners disapproved of the Son-Mayan alliance. Eventually, Piney put up his hand, and Pixie knew she had to, so she put up hers too, if she wanted any chance of protecting her family from the fallout of Clay's monumental decision, this was the only way to do that. Jax leant back in his seat to see Pixie's reluctant face, making a mental note to bring that up later. He valued Pixie's opinions greatly. In the past couple of months, she'd become a confidant to him, and a priceless ally. At times where he felt most alone in the world, Pixie had been there to hold his hand and lead him back. He wanted to make sure he could do the same for her, especially since hearing her declaration of loyalty to him last night, and how fiercely she wanted to protect the club, which had always been apparent, but had become more so during her patch-in initiation. Once Clay had taken account of all the hands in agreement, and Opie's "Yes" from the phone, he continued. "Anybody opposed?" Clay asked. When there was silence, he picked up his gavel and smacked it down, solidifying the vote and the club's decision and consequently the next direction it was heading towards. Once everyone was satisfied, they filed out of the room whilst Pixie and Half-Sack worked to clear up the discarded bottles and cigarettes in the overflowing ashtrays. As Pixie went to follow Half-Sack, Jax got up from where he'd been leaning against the wall and blocked the doorway.

"Jax?" Pixie asked, wondering what he was up to. He put a hand on her shoulder and closed the church door, leading Pixie to take a seat in Tig's chair whilst he sat down in Chibs'. Pixie put down her armful of bottles and raised an eyebrow.

"What happened back there, your vote was almost a 'nay', why?" Jax asked, lighting up a cigarette and leaning back in his chair. Feeling put on the spot, Pixie pulled her knees up to her chest and fiddled with her bootlaces.

"Clay just glossed over Bobby and Juice's worries about the Niners, he's not taking that potential threat seriously."

Jax scoffed. "The Niners have nothin' on us, they have no loyalty to us, we're fine with them."

"For now." Pixie said gravely. "Just because they may not be loyal to us, doesn't mean they aren't an invested party. We had a deal with them, for a long time from the sounds of it."

"That they backed out of, as soon as there was heat on us."

"Wouldn't you have done the same? They're not so blindly faithful as to leap onto a sinking allied ship, otherwise, they wouldn't be as powerful as they are. If it was the other way around, Jackie, and we were buying guns off of them, and they got involved with a multiple homicide and had the ATF trying to knock down their door, you wouldn't have touched them with a ten foot pole and you know it." Pixie told him. Jax tipped his head back, knowing she was right, Clay would've left them in the dust and so would he.

"I get what you're saying, darlin', but I don't think it could go as nasty as you're thinkin'."

"I spent most of an afternoon hustling with them, and accidentally got to see inside their club dynamics. Every single one of those men, especially Laroy, wanted to prove themselves to a complete stranger. They are some of the most competitive, headstrong, ambitious and arrogant people I have ever met. They call themselves 'The Kings of The Streets' for heaven's sake. You really think that those so-called Kings are gonna like you stopping your deal with them for a gang they consider an enemy? I'm pretty sure wars have been started over less. They will come at us with a fire and a fury unlike anything Charming has ever seen before, unless we can find a way to keep things smoothed out between us, Jax."

"Why didn't you bring any of this up in church just now?" Jax asked, leaning over to take Pixie's hand, seeing her worried face.

"Because all Clay was hearing when Juice and Bobby tried to voice their concern was; ' _blah, blah, blah, I'm the best, I formed an alliance, blah_ '." Pixie said goofily. Jax laughed despite the tense situation.

"I hear ya, darlin'." Jax reassured her. "I'll bring it up with Clay when he's more open to listening, in the meantime, we got a party tonight, for two new Sons." Jax grinned, reminding Pixie.

Pixie smiled, glad she could air out her worries with Jax. "I'm really excited about that." She grinned. "But I do wanna know why."

Jax's brow furrowed. "Why what?"

"Why did me and H get patched?"

Jax looked surprised. "What? You can't seriously be doubting yourself, Piglet."

"I just wanna know, what was the deciding factor that changed Clay from wanting to throttle me and kick H out for good for his book stunt?"

"You wanna know what went down in the meeting?"

"Yeah, please."

Jax nodded, Pixie had a right to know, considering the whole thing had to do with her. "Well, after we brought Clay in and sat him down, we discussed the fact that he may have his reasons for being so disapproving of you, but if he ever touches you in any negative way again, we will not hold back as much as we did last night." Jax said, his eyes dark and deadly as he thought about how Clay hadn't even hesitated to throw Pixie to the ground. "He agreed to that, and apologised, mainly to Tig and Chibs, because they're your closest family here, but also to the rest of us, because of how much we love our chaotic little maniac of a sister." Jax teased. Pixie giggled, feeling her heart bloom at the fact the club thought so highly of her.

"Bunch of softies." She teased.

"I know, I know." Jax chuckled. "Anyways, we compiled a list collectively of everything you'd done for the Sons since coming here, including killing for the club twice, and keeping it running and everyone afloat through all the rough patches we've had since you came here, and the fact that our Clubhouse and garage business has never been better and you can crack even the surliest of customers with your cute quirks." Jax explained. "We then realised that you've probably achieved more in your prospectship than any of us ever did, and we got in with less. When Clay was faced with the overwhelming evidence, he folded. Especially as Tig had texted Bobby and told him to get that 'Woman of Mayhem' patch made by our patch maker."

Pixie giggled. "I think he's been planning that since I told him I refused that patch when I was in Highton."

"What?"

"I only technically killed for the club once back there, it was an active shooter going after Bruce because he was the president, the shooter belonged to a rival gang called the 'Black Breams', I was goofing off with one of the other Sons and didn't see him until he got really close to Bruce and it was almost too late, even though I got the guy, I felt like I should've got him sooner and almost failed, so I refused the patch."

Jax shook his head. "And I thought I was too hard on myself. Geez, kid."

"I know, it's somethin' I'm trying to work on. What about H?"

"We argued that Sack saved Clay's life last night, and he's turning into a pretty good Son thanks to your influence on him, so if we patched him in with you, he'd continue to come into his own and be a good asset to the club." Jax explained.

"Good, all H needs is encouragement and guidance, he messes up when he tries to prove himself because you guys tear him down, Clay especially."

"You're a good sister to him, I see how you look out for him, and help him stand up for himself, I'll try and see if the others will chill out a bit with him."

"Thanks, Jackie." Pixie smiled.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

**So Pixie and Half-Sack finally got their patches! What do you guys think?**

****


	76. Patching Party

Pixie sat in the backseat of Gemma's fancy black car. The seats were leather and Pixie idly ran her hands along them as she bopped her head in time to the 'Blondie' CD playing in the background as Gemma and Cherry discussed makeup and hairstyling. Once Pixie had left the church with Jax, she'd been rounded up by a very eager Cherry who helped Pixie pick a party outfit and suggested they see if Gemma wanted to have a getting ready session with them so they could do girly things without being pestered by the boys. Pixie loved the sound of this idea, especially as she'd been able to finish the sketch and Tig had found her a frame to put it in. She'd hidden it at the bottom of the backpack she'd borrowed from Happy to put all the clothes and cosmetics Cherry had produced from Pixie's room that the boys hadn't touched. She borrowed a couple of items of clothing from Pixie's wardrobe as they were the same size and height, and one of the other female hang-abouts had let her borrow her spare pair of heels that she kept in a locker after Cherry had deemed Pixie's extensive boot and converse collection not 'glam' enough for tonight's party. Pixie had no clue what that meant but nodded along like she understood. Although Pixie loved alternative fashion, she was more of a casual girl, seeing as she was a Son who was never really off the clock, so back home Pixie had rarely not worn jeans to a party just in case she needed to jump in and sort something. But seeing as tonight was meant for Pixie to relax and celebrate, and there were more than enough senior Sons attending tonight that could deal with an issue should there be one. They pulled into Gemma's drive and got out, going up to the glossy front door. The house was a single story house but had a large square footage as well as a decent front and back garden. There were roses growing in the front acting as a border up the path to the door and a large oak tree. When the women went inside, pixie was greeted by treacle coloured wooden glossy flooring, and cream walls with wooden ornaments and pictures hung on them. There was a living room on the right with a large black leather couch and TV set, and to the left was the open plan kitchen area with a long dining table which looked like it could comfortably sit all the Charming Sons, plus guests.

"You have a lovely place, Gem." Pixie complimented as she took off her boots in the entryway with Cherry.

"Thanks, Clay calls me 'house-proud', but I just like having a pleasing setting to relax in."

"I think my flat with Half-Sack could probably fit into your living room." Cherry joked. "We make it work though, small but comfortable."

"That's sweet, it's your little lovebird nest." Pixie smiled.

"I like that phrase, I'm gonna use that." Cherry giggled.

"You girls want coffee?" Gemma called from the kitchen as the younger women walked in together.

"Ooh, please." Cherry replied.

"Too much caffeine makes me go a little loopy." Pixie explained. "Water's fine."

"Is that coz' of your ADHD?" Cherry asked.

"Yeah, sometimes it's stressful managing it, but for the most part it just makes life more fun."

"You're so positive, what the fuck." Cherry giggled. "I don't think I've ever heard you say anything negative, and not follow it up either with a solution, or a positive that overrides it."

"Oh tell me about it, she's like the club's ray of sunshine, apart from Juice." Gemma said, coming over with the drinks.

"Juice is a sweetheart." Pixie smiled fondly. There was a screeching cawing sound from one of the back rooms and Pixie raised an eyebrow at Gemma. "Was that a bird?"

"Yeah, I have a cockatiel named Nate, after my dad." Gemma informed them.

"That's so cool!" Pixie enthused.

"I love birds." Cherry added.

The three women chatted as they drank their beverages before they decided to get ready. Gemma took the girls into the main bedroom where she introduced them to her cockatiel before they started laying out clothes and discussing hair and makeup now that they had a better idea of what they were going to wear. Pixie decided that now would be a good time to give Gemma her gift, so once Gemma sat down on the bed to look at nail polish shades, Pixie pulled the frame out, and passed it to her.

"I know we had our talk in the garage office, but I wanted to finish this anyway. It's a peace offering, to say I'd like to be friends, I consider you family and I want to make things right between us." Pixie said, feeling a little shy under Gemma's intense gaze as she looked from the frame and back up to Pixie, before taking it and gasping at the picture.

"Pixie I-, it's beautiful. I don't know what to say!" Gemma gushed, looking at the detail of Pixie's drawing. She'd perfectly captured Jax's cocky smile, and the playful sparkle in his eyes. Clay looked tough and powerful, a strong male presence, which was a stark contrast to the soft lines and gentle features of Abel's baby face peeking out of his swaddling in Jax's arms. Gemma felt like she was looking in a mirror with her portrait in the photo, she had been depicted with a gentle smile, sparkling eyes and a slight wave to her hair. The way Pixie had posed her, made Gemma look almost regal, and certainly powerful too, like a lioness. The sketch had been done in shades of grey, but the details were so vivid, that Gemma could almost see it in colour. "When did you start this?"

"After the hospital trip with Jax, we took the photo of Abel for this, though I did get a good couple of snaps of both Jax and Abel, Juice printed them out for me, so I can give you those when we get back to the clubhouse." Pixie explained.

Gemma put the frame down on the bed so Cherry could see the sketch and patted the space next to her for Pixie to sit, so Gemma could envelope her in a hug. "I'm truly sorry. I slammed your hand in a drawer and you still did this for me."

"Hey, that was an accident in a moment of anger, I've made peace with that." Pixie assured her. "We're good, but I do wanna ask, did you apologise to Cherry for slamming her face in with a skateboard, for something Clay forced her to do?" Pixie pulled back a bit so she could see Gemma's face. Gemma flushed a little.

"You've got more balls than I give you credit for." Gemma chuckled.

"We discussed it, it's okay." Cherry nodded, feeling a little shy about Pixie trying to seek justice for her.

Gemma surprised both younger girls by ducking her head down a little. "I'm sorry Cherry. It isn't okay, I knew it was absurd, but I didn't realise how stupid my actions were until Pixie phrased it like that." Gemma admitted.

"Pixie has a way of doing that, I think I might need to hire her as my conscience." Cherry giggled.

"I think I've become the club's collective conscience, after the amount of discussions I've had with everyone, which is a little worrying considering I have no impulse control, a short fuse and I'm chaotic as hell." Pixie said, making the other women laugh.

"I think you just described our whole family." Gemma smiled. "You know you girls are the first women I've actually wanted to spend time with in a while. Most of 'em are just airheads wanting to steal your man, but you two are both so strong and interesting, and not afraid to call me out on my bullshit."

"I really like spending time with you too, Gemma, you too Cherry, I've really missed hanging out with other girls since being here, as most of the time it's just testosterone central, so it's a really refreshing change of pace."

"Oh, I feel you, gurl." Cherry smiled. "I love Kip, but trying to explain makeup to him was like trying to explain quantum physics to a toddler."

Gemma laughed at her analogy. "I second that, the other day Clay thought a mud mask was made from soil."

"What if we had a girl's night?" Pixie suggested. "We could just meet up once a week or something and do stuff that we don't get to do with the boys? We could even have day time stuff too, like going to the cinema, or I could teach you two self-defence, or even how to ride? I think we should invite Donna too, she needs support."

The other two grinned at Pixie's suggestions, visibly getting excited. "Oh, now that sounds like fun." Gemma smiled.

☠️☠️☠️

Jax carried out the case of beer and placed it on the metal barrels that were being used as makeshift tables for the lot. He'd volunteered to pick up the jobs Pixie would normally be doing whilst she was AWOL with Cherry and Gemma. The trio hadn't been seen since they went to Pixie's to her room to collect a clothing bag, wanting to have their own getting ready party before they came to the Sons bash later on. Tig had pouted at the fact Pixie was leaving with the girls, he'd wanted to spend time with her, seeing as since they'd arrived earlier in the day, they'd barely had a spare moment to themselves. Jax smiled, recalling Tig's face, he was so ridiculously in love with Pixie, it was almost comical. She only had to look at him and he was drooling over her. As the sun disappeared behind the hills around Charming, the first guests came roaring into the lot on their bikes like creatures of the night. Instead of blood, it was beer that they craved, and _boy_ was there a lot of it, Jax thought to himself. Familiar faces greeted him and Clay who stood next to him, nursing his first pint of evening. Tig came over to them, looking for somewhere to stand. He felt so out of place and that thought spooked him, he had never felt like an outsider at the Sons parties before, but he felt different when Pixie wasn't with him, he felt like she gave him such a confidence boost and it just felt perfect, having her tucked under one arm, or watching Pixie talk to everyone, or do something crazy. Jax made small talk with him before Half-Sack asked Tig to give him a hand finding the lighter fluid for the Sons grill. Clay and Jax looked up at the sound of Gemma's car entering the lot. Chibs and Juice came riding in after them, having gone out to grab a few extra pieces of electronics for the stereo system Juice was going to set up in the lot. They pulled up and kicked their bike stands out as Pixie got out of the car with Cherry and Gemma, shaking her hair out and sashaying over to Juice where she kissed his cheek and gave him a hug, before doing the same to Chibs. 

"Look at you boys lookin' all dapper!" She giggled at them, taking in the nice white t-shirt and black jeans Juice had put on under his kutte, and Chibs' dark green shirt and blue jeans.

Jax almost dropped his beer upon seeing her. Pixie's notoriously wild hair had somehow been tamed into tight curls swirling down her back and over her shoulders, though Jax noted Pixie had a bright red velvet scrunchie on one wrist, just in case they needed further taming. Pixie's makeup was done to perfection, thick eyeliner wings, red glittering eyeshadow and fire red lipstick. She was wearing a dress that had a strapless satin black corset bodice, decorated with loops of satin material that had been studded, to accentuate her waist, the skirt of the dress was in red and black checks and came just above Pixie's knees. She was wearing black fishnets on her leg and thigh, but had tucked the material under the black bandage on her prosthetic, leaving it free so the tights wouldn't snag on it. On her feet, Pixie wore black boots with similar loops of studded material around the ankles to match the dress.

"I...I did not know she could look like that." Jax said fumbling with his words. Jax had only ever thought of Pixie as being something of a tomboyish little sister to him and had never really thought about Pixie's looks. But now, dressed like a biker babe straight out of the pages of a Harley Davidson magazine, Jax was stunned by her beauty. Pixie had curves in all the right places and her face had always been beautiful before, but now looked stunning, the makeup highlighting her best features and high cheekbones.

"God _damn_ , Pixie!" He called out to her, she turned around from where she was conversing with Chibs and Juice and gave him a wave.

"Hey, Jackie boy." She called out to him. He took her hand and spun her around, taking in her transformation up close, he hadn't noticed the red skull studs with diamond eyes in her ears, or the silver skeleton hands necklace around her neck.

"You look, incredible. I mean, wow." Jax said.

"Don't act so surprised, Jax." Pixie giggled.

Jax looked over to the clubhouse. "I think you're gonna make Tig glitch out."

Juice laughed. "Probably blow his mind."

"I'm gonna go grab my kutte from my room, I'll probably see him in there." Pixie giggled. She sashayed away, attracting every male gaze in a ten-foot radius as she twinkled past them. She got to the clubhouse doors and disappeared inside, where a couple of Sons were swaying to the music near the doors and completely stopped moving to watch her skip past them. Jax turned to Chibs and Juice. "Place your bets on how many Sons are gonna ask Pixie to dance with them." 

"I don't think I want ta bankrupt myself." Chibs laughed.

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie went to her dorm after greeting Half-Sack and telling him to go check out Cherry in the lot, looking for her kutte so she could put it on, feeling odd without it. She thought she may as well try to find the images of Abel and Jax for Gemma too, so began a hunt through the things in the room, trying not to disturb Happy's belongings seeing as he'd moved into here for the time being too. There was a punch-knock at the door and Tig ambled in.

"Hey baby, Jax said you were looki- _woah_." Tig stopped mid-word as he turned around from shutting the door and took in Pixie's makeover. His eyes went round as he slowly took in every detail, eyes travelling down Pixie. Pixie blushed under his gaze.

"Tiggy?"

Tig suddenly put Pixie's kutte down on the bed and rushed over, pinning Pixie up against the wall, lips crashing against hers as Pixie gasped with the surprise, wrapping her legs around his waist as a fire ignited in her stomach upon hearing Tig's growl and the way his hands travelled up her sides and cupped her face. "Fucking beautiful." Tig growled low as he pulled away a little to look at Pixie's face, his pupils blown with lust.

"It's a good thing Cherry used waterproof lipstick on me." Pixie giggled, stroking Tig's face.

"You seriously gotta warn a guy next time." Tig grinned, eyes hungry as his lips captured Pixie's again, making her hum against him.

"Oh yeah? I take it you like this outfit?"

"I like it so much I wanna take it off you." Tig grunted, kissing down Pixie's neck. "Well that's gonna have to wait, mister, we have a party to enjoy." Pixie said in between gasps, her voice sounding unconvinced, even to her ears.

"Never seen you in a dress before, you look so good." Tig kissing across Pixie's chest. "Why don't we have a little party all to ourselves, hm?" He crooned as his hands started wandering along Pixie's thighs.

" _Later_. How's that?" Pixie argued. "We can enjoy the party and when it starts winding down, we can have a little after party of our own." Pixie suggested, kissing Tig's cheek.

Tig pretended to pout, but let Pixie down. "Okay, deal, but I'm not letting you out of my sight, I don't trust a lot of those guys."

Pixie hugged him tight. "I'll agree to that, contrary to popular opinion, I don't actually like confrontations all that much, and I really don't want to fight tonight."

"Poor baby, you need to let that hand recover too." Tig nodded, Cherry and Gemma had done a good job of covering Pixie's bruises with a waterproof foundation, but her right hand was still bandaged up and bruised. He picked her kutte up from the bed. "I put your new patches on your kutte whilst you were out doing your girly things." Tig explained, holding it out for Pixie. She gasped, eyes glittering as she saw the Charming banner underneath her reaper on the back, and then her badges of honour on the front when Tig turned the kutte around. He'd put the 'Woman of Mayhem" Patch below her "Daughter of Anarchy" one so it matched the layouts of the others, and Pixie ran her fingers over her "Redwood Originals" Patches on the other side, solidifying to herself that it was really real, she was now a full, Charming Son.

"They're perfect, Tiggy, thank you! You're the best." Pixie kissed him before he helped her into it. "I really like what you're wearing tonight too, by the way." Pixie said with a little wink as she undid one of the top buttons of Tig's black button-up shirt. He'd put them with dark blue jeans, and his black military boots, though they looked like they'd seen some polish since earlier.

"Thank you darlin', gotta look my best for you." He gave her one last kiss before they went to the door. "Ready to go raise some hell?"

"Always." Pixie grinned as Tig took her hand and they went outside together. The crowd was wild as the Sons let loose, they were either cheering on the cage fighters, dancing with their women or loudly and cheerfully shouting at each other as they enjoyed themselves, dancing to the music. Pixie spotted Half-Sack almost salivating over Cherry in her outfit. She'd opted for a cherry red sleeveless crop top with a black zip up the front, a black skater skirt that came to just above her knees and a pair of red high heels that matched her top perfectly. She'd chosen a smokey eye makeup look with red lipstick and nail polish to compliment the look. Her hair was in waves with a black bow at the back making a half-up-half-down hairdo.

Cherry waved to Pixie before she left Half-Sack to go to the dance floor where a couple other Sons were letting loose with the hangabouts. Half-Sack came over to them with a huge goofy smile.

"Isn't she gorgeous?" He gushed.

"Stunning." Pixie enthused. "Though you scrub up nice too." She complimented, making Half-Sack blush a little, he was wearing a blue polo shirt and black jeans, his kutte, complete with new patches and a pair of smart black boots.

"Thanks, Pix, Chibs and Juice have called an unofficial meeting on the benches." He told them.

"Wonder if it's about Cammy?" Pixie suggested as the trio began walking over to where the Charming Sons had gathered at a makeshift meeting table. Pixie waved to them as Half-Sack pulled up a chair next to Juice and Bobby, and Tig sat down on one next to Clay. She spotted Opie and grinned as he got up, waiting for a hug. Pixie excitedly jumped at him.

"Opie! Missed you, brother!"

"You saw me this morning." Opie laughed. "Congrats on your patch by the way, very well deserved." He grinned.

"Thanks! How was work?"

"Boring as shit, _but_ the boss was happy I turned up and I'm in his good books again."

"That's great news." Pixie told him as he set Pixie on her feet so he could lean across and clap Half-Sack on the back. "Well done too, buster, welcome to the team."

"Thanks, dude!" Half-Sack grinned. Pixie turned to see Tig beckoning her over so he could tuck Pixie into his lap, not wanting to be away from her. She obliged, looking over to Chibs as he cleared his throat.

"Cammy was supposed ta kill tha' piece of shit, Hefner before Monday." Chibs told them.

Juice nodded. "Hefner's squeezing the Irish for more payoff cash, so he's gonna intercept the cargo."

"And how is that our problem?" Tig asked, brow furrowed as he stroked Pixie's side.

Chibs sat up a little to look at him. "It ain't a _problem_ , it's a gift from tha' Irishman."

"Look." Juice said, going into business mode, Pixie was proud of Juice for stepping up like this, she could see it was taking a lot of confidence. "We take out the Port Commissioner, he's gonna give us back all two hundred K that we just forked over, plus a month of free guns." Juice explained. Tig's eyebrows raised and at the mention of money, Opie leant in closer, the others looked just as interested.

"Our warehouse rebuild is crushing us." Bobby put forward. "It's the cost of raw materials. Free guns 'n' cash? We could be seeing black before we put a roof on." Bobby smiled.

"Murder for hire?" Clay grunted. "That's a dirty business." Clay nodded.

Pixie couldn't help but let out a laugh. "We killed an asshole because he hurt Tristen and Oswald wanted us to. We were murderers for hire back then, so why're you drawing the line now? This is the same, just without the blackmail and with more payout. Plus we're gun-running outlaws, what happened to you? Someone put a healthy dose of morals in your beer?" Pixie asked him, making the others chuckle.

"Sweetheart's right, plus it ain't about money." Piney spoke up. "That asshole killed McKeevy. Michael was a friend of mine, and yours, Clay. He was good with your dad, too Jax." Piney reminded them. "He went back a _long_ way with Samcro."

Clay nodded. "Whaddya think, VP?" He asked Jax.

"I agree with Piney and Pixie." Jax nodded. "McKeevy was a friend, I think we owe it to the Irish to take this bastard out."

Pixie looked at Tig, gauging his reaction, he sucked his bottom lip and nodded, thinking about it. Pixie was relieved to see he was on board.

"How was Cameron gonna do it?" Clay asked, looking to Juice along with everyone else. It sounded like Juice had gone back to speak to McKeevy about it with Chibs, wanting to do the right thing.

"Hefner's got a Sunday ritual. Church with the wife, sex with the young black girlfriend. She lives in a shitty neighbourhood right outside his nice Oakland suburb."

"And tha's where we take him out." Chibs told them. "It'll just look like a hate crime on a rich guy in the wrong place." Chibs said. "Cops barely even pay attention to tha' stuff coz' it happens so often."

"Who does it?" Clay asked them. Before any of them could answer, Opie spoke up.

"I do." He said firmly. Pixie raised an eyebrow at him at the same time as Jax.

"Been a while since you suited up, brother." Jax told him.

"Not to mention we just got you back from the slammer, last thing any of us wants is you going back in, you can't take that risk just at the moment, you need to take care of your family first." Pixie told him.

Jax nodded, relieved that he wasn't the only one looking out for Opie anymore. "Pix's right, brother. I'll do it."

"I _can_ do this." Opie insisted stubbornly. Jax and Pixie exchanged a glance, knowing there would be no swaying Opie. Pixie felt like banging her head on the table.

Clay looked at Opie, Jax and Pixie before he spoke. "Alright, get Cameron to confirm the payoff." He told Juice and Chibs who both nodded. "Jax, Ope, Bobby. No mistakes." Clay said firmly, looking pointedly at Opie.

"Alright." Opie nodded. Getting up from the table, looking at both Jax and Pixie before he trudged off to go and find Donna, who was chatting to Gemma and Cherry. Everyone took that as a dismissal and got up, Clay also headed that direction, wanting to spend time with his wife, especially as she was wearing tight leather pants, a black vest top with a diamante cross, black stiletto boots and a red leather jacket, looking like a true Harley queen, and Clay was very invested in that.

"As much as I wanna dance with you, a certain jolly giant ain't lookin' so jolly." Tig frowned as Pixie pulled him to his feet.

"Yup, duty calls." Pixie sighed, kissing Tig on his cheek before she linked up with Jax to go figure out where Opie's head was at. When they reached the group, Pixie fussed over Donna first, wanting her to feel as welcome as possible. Donna had opted for a bohemian dress with orange flowers and green trim, green wedge sandals, matching purse and a denim jacket. She'd added a flower necklace and bangle to make the outfit complete and there were a pair of sunglasses tucked into the top pocket of her jacket.

"Hi Donna! You look amazing!" Pixie greeted, pulling her in for a hug. "How are you?"

"I'm really good, actually." Donna said, sounding a little overjoyed and surprised. She pulled Pixie away from the group a little bit so they could talk. "I've been meaning to ask you something, actually."  
"What's up?" Pixie asked sweetly, eager to help where she could.

"After Harry got home from work today, we had a talk and he brought up marriage counselling. We both agreed it was the best thing for us, Bobby got on the phone and found us someone we could talk to, Janet Lebowski, who's agreed to counsel us for free because we're associated with the Sons. I wasn't sure at first, but I spoke to her briefly on the phone too, and she seems really nice." Donna smiled.

Pixie grinned, happy that her idea was working out, and that Donna and Opie were getting the help they both needed. "I'm so happy for you guys, that sounds like it could really help. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you." Donna replied. "That's kind of why I wanted to talk to you, I've seen how well you deal with kids at the fundraiser, and Kenny and Ellie both adore you, so I was wondering if you'd babysit them whilst we attend the appointments? I'd usually hand them off to Mary, Harry's mom, but the kids really want you instead."

"Aw! I'd love to take care of them, and I promise you, I will keep your family safe." Pixie nodded.

"I don't doubt that at all." Donna said looking excited and relieved. "It'll have to be in the evenings as neither Harry nor I can take time off of work, and my nurses shifts go on until four, so by the time we get up to Woodbridge, the kids will need food, homework, downtime and bed."

"I can do all of that." Pixie assured her.

"Great, Harry said you're a good cook."

"That's kind of him." Pixie giggled. "How often are you needing the appointments?"

"Well, we're doing them once a week to start with, but I was wondering if you'd mind babysitting twice a week, Harry and I were talking and we realised we never go on dates anymore or spend quality time as a couple together, and that could be why we're struggling."

"Say no more, Donnie, I'd be happy to do that, and if you need the house free, I can always take the kids out places." Pixie told her.

"You are an angel, thank you so much." Donna hugged Pixie tightly.

"And don't even think about paying me, okay? I don't want that, you guys are family, and I love spending time with Ellie and Kenny, that's payment enough for me."

"Are you sure?" Donna bit her lip.

"A thousand percent, okay?"

"Yeah. Thank you, Pixie." Donna smiled as they went back to rejoin the group. It looked like Jax and Opie hadn't actually spoken to each other yet, neither one wanting to address the issues. Pixie grabbed both of their hands and towed them away to a quieter corner.

"Okay, grumpy one and two, start talkin'." Pixie said, putting her hands on her hips.

"I don't like how either of you were doubting me at the goddamn table." Opie huffed, crossing his arms.

Pixie looked behind herself and then back at Opie. "Well I dunno who you're talking to, Winston, but neither of us were doubting you. At all. Let's make that clear. What Jax and I were trying to do was be your voice of reason seeing as it's taken a convenient vacation."

"Pixie's right. You need to focus on your family, if things go south, we can't have you getting caught again." Jax said calmly.

"That wasn't my fault!" Opie growled. "The fucker left me behind."

"I know it's not, but you still got caught." Jax growled back.

"We talking about Kyle?" Pixie asked.

"Yeah, Kyle and Ope teamed up to do an arson hit, but when Kyle heard sirens, he got spooked and left, leaving Opie with no way of escaping the scene, causing him to be arrested and put away." Jax clarified.

"What an awful piece of shit." Pixie responded. "Still doesn't mean we're doubting you, and I can tell that wound's not healed either. You're not functioning at your best, which is why I don't want you doing this, Ope, you need to give yourself more time. You haven't even been out a year, you're on cop radar and if they get you again, they may not be as lenient. We just got things smoothed out with Donna, don't throw that away now." Pixie told him.

"I'm not, I just want back into the club again. I miss being a part of it."

"You are a part of it, brother." Jax insisted.

"But I'm not an active member. This is just an easy hit. Straight in, straight out. I'll be with you and Bobby, so what could go wrong?" Opie argued.

"The fact that you're struggling mentally and emotionally. You saw how bad I spiralled last night, I got pushed beyond my limits and I don't want the same thing happening to you." Pixie insisted. 

"I get what you're saying, but I want to do this, and I'm gonna do this." Opie said firmly.

Pixie shook her head. "I'm always gonna support you, Ope, you're my brother. So if this is what you want to do, then fine, do it." Pixie said. "Just stay safe, I can't lose another brother."

Opie's face softened. "Hey, you're not gonna lose me, okay?" Pixie didn't meet his gaze, kicking a pebble with the toe of her boot. "Hey." He barked a little sharper, making Pixie look up. "I promise, you're not gonna lose me. It feels amazing that you're in my corner, both of you." Ope said looking at Jax. "I want to do this."

"We're not stopping you, so if this is what you want, then fine." Jax sighed. He knew Opie wasn't in the right head-space for killing, but Opie was also insanely stubborn, a trait he'd inherited from Piney, and once he set his mind to something, not even the devil himself could stop Opie.

"Thanks guys. I'm not gonna let you down." Opie nodded, hugging both of them. "I'm gonna go dance with Donna. That okay?"

"Yeah, go have fun big guy." Pixie nodded, patting his arm and smiling. Opie nodded and strode off.

"You think he's gonna go through with the hit?" Jax asked.

"No, I can see it in his eyes, he's not in the right frame of mind. Please stay safe Jax, the last thing I want is all three of you going down."

"I've had Opie's back since we were pre-schoolers, I'll make sure everyone gets out, including myself." Jax assured him. "Bobby's tough as shit too, so don't worry too bad. C'mon let's not think about Monday before it gets here, let's just enjoy tonight." Jax took Pixie's hand and they went to goof off together.

Tig found Pixie and they danced with each other, which helped take her mind off of her worries, she loved feeling safe in his arms and the feeling of love she got when they were together. Tig felt the same way, loving watching Pixie let loose and dance, reminding him of their little cabin holiday. Tig ran into some of his old buddies from neighbouring charters and introduced Pixie to them. They joked about his reputation and how he'd gone soft, but for the most part were really welcoming and supportive of Pixie, especially when she shut them down when she didn't like a particular comment. Tig wanted to chat to them for longer, so Pixie dipped out and went to check back in with Jax, grabbing him a beer on the way. He was talking to Clay, but when Pixie approached, he moved away to put his arm around her.

"You good?" He checked in.

"Yeah, just making sure everything's okay." Pixie explained, Jax grinned.

"Hey, I already told you, this is the one chance we got for a while to just chill out and have fun, stop worrying so much, darlin'."

"I can't help it, I have a bunch of chaotic bikers for family!" Pixie giggled. "You think anything's gonna happen tonight?"

"It wouldn't be a Sons party without a few incidents, but as long as we're not involved, we can just enjoy ourselves, besides, I _know_ you didn't get yourself all dolled up if you didn't want to have a little fun."

"I definitely wanna have fun and forget for a while." Pixie agreed. "But I think I need to talk to the Carson City pres', considering I'm on the Nevada Mayan shit list."

"Oh fuck yeah, forgot about that!" Jax recalled. "His name's Patriot Andrews, I'll introduce you." Jax grabbed Pixie's left hand and towed her through the crowd to where a group of men were sitting on the picnic benches.

"Ah, Jax Teller, the one and only!" one of the men stood up. Pixie thought he could have been Hulk Hogan's twin. He was tall and burly with a white handlebar moustache and long white ponytail under the red bandanna on his head. He was wearing sunglasses too, which didn't help the uncanny similarity. The man he was chatting too also stood up, he was a tall beast of a guy who reminded her of Thor. He had a blonde beard and shoulder-length blonde hair, green eyes and a scar on his left cheek. He had a Sons kutte and Pixie guessed he must be a Nomad, seeing his patches.

"Patriot! What up?" Jax greeted, they did the bro-hug thing before separating so Patriot could clap Jax on the shoulder.

"Things seem to be going a lot better in Carson City than they are in the Mother Charter." Patriot commented. "This is Norse, by the way, he came to escort me, seeing as he's one of our best fighters."

"Good to meet you." Jax nodded, he'd thought Opie looked like a viking, but this guy looked like he literally stepped off of a Longship ten minutes ago. "Yeah, hopefully with Clay's new deal things should go better." Jax assured him with confidence, making Patriot look more relaxed as he took a swig of his beer. "I wanted to introduce you to Pixie Telford, we just patched her in."

"Telford? You Chibs' lil' girl?"

"Adopted daughter, but yeah." Pixie explained. "Nice to meet you."

"And you, sweetheart." Patriot smiled.

"Wait, Pixie? _The_ Pixie?" Norse grinned.

"Excuse me?" Pixie giggled not catching on.

"You're somewhat of a legend over in Nevada. You did that incredible shot on that Mayan guy, shot his hand and saved Jury, whilst driving a truck." Norse explained. "Oh the guys back home are gonna be so jealous!"

Pixie laughed remembering. "Yeah, I visited there a while ago now for the patch over party."  
"Is it true you were still a prospect at that point?" Patriot asked.

"Yep, I literally just got patched in today. Though I was a VP at my hometown charter in Highton."  
Norse nodded. "Wow, congrats! Heard about that tragedy on my visit to Indian Hills. I'm sorry you went through that."

"It's okay, I've made peace with it." Pixie nodded, her heart hurt at the mention of it, but she didn't let it show.

Patriot was impressed by Pixie's strong resolve. "You know you're incredible, right, darlin'? I mean you're what? Twenty? And you've survived two shootouts, became a VP and you have all that talent, plus you're the first ever Daughter of Anarchy. Mad respect, baby girl."

Pixie blushed delicately. "Thanks. You're really sweet, both of you are."

Norse chuckled. "Is it true you do bike stunts?"

Pixie nodded. "Yep, been doing them since I learnt to ride."

"Some of the nomads can do stunts, we were thinking of showing off in a bit, you want to show us what you can do?"

Pixie nodded. "Hell yeah!"

"Sure you don't mind messing up your hairdo with your helmet?" Patriot asked with a smile.

Pixie rolled her eyes at him and laughed. "Would I be a Son if I cared about that?"

Norse laughed. "Very true."

"Pixie ain't afraid to get down and bloody if she needs to." Jax said proudly. "She's one of our best. Though, we do have a little problem, Pixie ran into some trouble with Secret Town Mayans when she moved to the country some months back." Jax explained.

"What happened?" Patriot asked, looking concerned. Pixie explained the details, recounting her story whilst Patriot and Norse listened, nodding their heads and drinking their beer until Pixie had caught them up on her eventful Nevada trips. When she was done, Patriot smiled again. "Well, you're a daughter of Anarchy for sure. We'll go pay them a visit when we sit down to work out the contract, make sure they don't ever try to mess with you again, though from the sounds of it, I don't think they'd want to if they valued their lives."

"Thank you so much, that would be a little weight off of my shoulders, especially if I need to head up there for anything." Pixie explained gratefully.

"Hey, don't worry about it, darlin', if you're ever back up our way, we'll give you a Sons escort as thanks for everything you've done, and a sign of respect to the most badass chick I'm ever gonna meet." Patriot grinned.

"Thanks." Pixie grinned. "If you ever need help or anything, let me know."

"Thank you, darlin'." Patriot nodded, Pixie gave them both a hug before Jax and Pixie left them so Pixie could check in with Chibs and Jax wanted to go talk to a ginger-haired beauty he'd seen dancing passionately to Metallica over the speakers. Pixie found Chibs with his feet up on a bench watching the party with a relaxed look on his face and a bottle of Lagavulin whiskey next to him.

"Breaking out the good stuff are we?" Pixie asked as she neared. Chibs grinned and sat up so Pixie could take the seat next to him.

"Aye, ye only get ta' see yer lass become a fully patched Son once." He said proudly. "How ye doin'?"  
"Thanks, dad, and I'm good, Opie's refusing to listen to reason, but I trust him. Also met a guy called Patriot, he's gonna sort out my Mayan troubles."

"Patriot? Aye, he's a good man." Chibs nodded. "Ye havin' fun tonight?"

"Yeah, danced with Jax and Tiggy. Had fun with Gemma and Cherry too. How 'bout you?"

"Aye, I'm fine lass, go enjoy yerself." Chibs said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Come dance with me?" Pixie asked him, getting up and grabbing his hand. "You've been sat down most of the night."

"I was not made fer dancin'." Chibs huffed playfully, but got up, taking a swig of his whiskey before he let Pixie tow him onto the dance floor. He found himself having more fun than he anticipated and Pixie helped to further lift his spirits. When the song ended Chibs kissed her temple. "Now go off and have fun, ye wee scunner." Chibs playfully scolded.

"Okay, fine." Pixie giggled but grabbed Chibs' sunglasses from his pocket, putting them on and grinning, before darting off into the crowd, making Chibs laugh as he watched her go. Pixie then danced with Cherry and Gemma until Norse came and found her, using his height of what Pixie estimated must have been six foot seven, to look over the crowd. He told her that the other Nomads were getting ready to do their stunts, and desperately wanted to see what Pixie could do. She assured him she had black pleather shorts on under her dress, so she'd be fine for stunts and tied her hair back.

☠️☠️☠️

After the space was cleared and all the party-goers were spread on either side of the lot, some of the nomads revved their bikes and proceeded to do wheelies and small jumps to the cheers of the crowd. Norse nodded to Pixie, signalling for her to ride out and do her thing. Pixie grinned to herself as she accelerated down, pulling up onto a standing wheelie, then back down to turn and came back the other way, she stood up on her bike with her arms outstretched for the cheering crowd. Coming back, she decided to pull out all the stops, doing stunts that the Charming Sons hadn't even seen her do before. She went into the routine she did when she used to compete, which consisted of all different types of wheelies with some extra stunts in there for pizazz such as a 'flamingo' (standing on the seat with one leg sticking out behind you) and a leap of faith with a ninja kick whilst she was airborne (standing on the seat, and taking as high of a leap as possible into the air to land onto the tank with Ninja/Karate mid air antic). When she landed that effortlessly, the crowd exploded with cheers of disbelief and she caught Chibs' look of sheer panic when she finally pulled to a stop. Tig had watched the entire performance, his grip on his beer bottle becoming increasingly tighter and tighter as Pixie's stunts became more and more dangerous. He was surprised that the beer bottle didn't break when he finally put it to the side. When Pixie came out of the ring, Norse grabbed her, putting her on his shoulder and cheering, fist raised as the crowd roared back. Pixie was blushing profusely and laughing as the guy jumped around with her in his arms. He eventually put her down so Jax and the other Charming Sons could crowd her, Tig being relieved to see she was safe and giving her a kiss. The party resumed after that, but Pixie stayed at the centre of all the attention. The visiting Sons were either desperate to dance with her, have her talk to them, or show them some of her knife throwing skills. The Sons were lapping up her antics and could barely take their eyes off of her, Tig was acting as a bodyguard, keeping his eye on Pixie the entire time, being more than a little jealous of the way the other men were looking at her, but refraining from stepping in, knowing that Pixie could handle it, and she was faithful to him. Pixie was grateful for Tig's presence, as it made her feel more comfortable and confident with the crowd and the strangers, both of which made her anxiety go off the charts for obvious reasons.

After a couple of hours, Pixie was exhausted and needed a break from all the dancing and stunts she'd been doing. She walked over to the benches where she spotted Norse sat with Jax, Opie, Tig and Chibs. She headed in that direction when she heard a shout.

"You'll never be a true Son!" The voice was drunkenly aggressive and Pixie turned around, finding the source to be a greasy looking bastard holding an empty beer bottle. He was a bald rotund man with a Sons kutte, his face was flushed from the alcohol, and was staring at Pixie with rage and hatred in his eyes. The shout has caused a couple of Sons, including the familiar faces on the bench to turn to see what Pixie would do next. She nodded her head, and gave a sigh.

"Why, coz' I'm a girl?" She asked him, sounding bored.

"No, coz' you're black!" The man sneered, stepping closer, he smelt of sweat and beer.

Pixie was a little taken aback, but didn't let it show, instead she grinned sweetly at him. "Let me guess, did your mummy read you 'Mein Kampf' as a bedtime story?" Pixie asked him, putting on a baby voice, knowing it would rattle him. There were 'ooohs' and chuckles from the crowd as they caught what Pixie had said.

"Hey! You leave my mother out of this, bitch!" The man roared, squaring up to Pixie.

"You're the one that brought up mine, you tiny-dicked prick. She was a black woman, and I'm proud of that." Pixie snarled, refusing to back down.

"Well if you're so proud of it, go join the Niners. The Sons isn't the place for your kind."

" _My_ kind? Dude, when were you born? The seventeen-hundreds?" Pixie scoffed. The guy lunged for her, which Pixie was expecting, she grabbed his arm, using the leverage and flipped him. He landed on his back on the cement with a thud, his beer bottle smashing on the floor. She watched as he heaved himself to his feet, grabbing the smashed bottleneck and launching himself at her. Pixie dodged him, trying to keep him and the broken bottle as far away from her as the Charming Sons swarmed the scene, trying to get close enough without being slashed themselves as he swung around wildly. Pixie roundhouse kicked the man's head, knocking him backwards. He dropped the bottle as he tried to regain his balance, but Pixie was on him, flattening him to the ground and punching with her left fist like a jackhammer into the guy's face.

"HOLY SHITE!" Chibs roared witnessing the scuffle. They heard the guy on the floor curse her out, calling her a 'bitch' and a 'slut' as Jax and Norse weaved through the crowd and the two of them broke up the pair.

"She's insane!" The Son hollered. "Dumb bitch broke my nose!"

"You got what you deserve! Lemme at him!" Pixie yelled back. Norse had her pinned to him and was taken aback by the sheer amount of force she had in her muscles as she fought to reach her opponent. Clay pushed through the crowd and Chibs explained what had happened, he was seething with rage over the comments and the fact Pixie had this happen to her.

"You're barred from here. Don't ever come back here again." Clay growled. He shoved the guy in the direction of the gates and the offending Son spat blood on the floor and hobbled off. The offending Son's president stepped forwards, promising that the guy would be severely dealt with and kicked out. Chibs and Tig, who had been watching the whole thing unfold, fury deep in their veins exchanged a glance before they slunk off after the guy. Jax, Bobby and Happy crowded round Pixie, making sure she was alright and that her left hand wasn't damaged. It was pink, but didn't look like it would bruise too badly. After looking around and not seeing Chibs or Tig, Pixie decided she needed some quiet time to rest and calm her nerves from the confrontation, so went in search for Juice, needing support from her brother. Jax sensed this and helped her look for him, eventually finding Juice drunk out of his mind laying flat on a table and staring up at the night sky, she heaved Juice into a sitting position.

"Juice, you in there, buddy?"

"You're purdy." Juice slurred, Pixie smiled.

"How much have you been drinking?" Pixie asked him, feeling his pulse.

"Lots!" Juice giggled, slumping over on Pixie. She staggered trying to hold his dead-weight before Jax heaved Juice up into a fireman's lift and carried him into the clubhouse with Pixie opening the doors, taking him into her dorm room where Jax dumped him on the bed.

"You a'ight with him, darlin'?" Jax asked.

"Yeah, I'll get him stable and chill here for a little bit." Pixie nodded. "Thanks, Jackie."

"No worries." Jax hugged her. "I'm bringing that shitty bylaw up with Clay, get it taken out for good."

"That would really mean a lot, it'd stop stupid bastards like that guy coming at me."

"I think Chibs and Tig are dealing with him." Jax noted. "So I don't think we're gonna see him again."

"What a shame." Pixie said sarcastically, making Jax smile. He let her go and told her he'd send Chibs and Tig in when they returned before leaving Pixie to deal with Juice, knowing she needed space to reconfigure and wanted to make sure he was safe. When she turned back to Juice, he had a little frown on his face as he lay sprawled out on the bed.

"What's up tough guy?" She asked him as she worked on undoing his bootlaces.

"You're the best sister ever." Juice whimpered, sounding like he was going to cry. Pixie went over to him and stroked his face.

"Hey, hey, J, it's alright buddy, I'm here." She soothed him.

He nodded, holding her hand, looking up at her with unfocused pupils. "You always here fo' me." Juice slurred. "I feel bad."

"Bad as in puke bad or bad as in sad bad?" Pixie queried.

"Boff." Juice grunted. Pixie grabbed the trashcan just in time, then supported Juice's body whilst he returned most of a bottle of tequila. When he was done she tied up the trash bag before getting him water.

"I miss my tequila." Juice started crying again so Pixie went to the shelf and got a packet of cookies giving him one to eat which distracted him enough that he calmed down again.

"Did you take anything else with the tequila?" Pixie asked him.

"Weeeeeeeeeeeed. Hehe." Juice giggled. "This cookie has a smiley face."

"Oh boy." Pixie shook her head, watching Juice eat the cookie.

"Oh no!" Juice slurred. "I ate my friend!" He looked so panicked but Pixie couldn't help but laugh as the outburst.

"It's okay, you can make new friends."  
"But I miss him." Juice said sadly.

"You know what I do when I'm sad sometimes?" Pixie asked to distract him whilst she finished taking off his boots and his belt so he'd be more comfortable and didn't have his weapons on him either.

"No?" Juice watched her like a hopeful puppy. Pixie heaved him onto the bed more so he was laying across the end of it on the end of the brown blanket.

"I turn myself into a blanket burrito." Pixie told him, giving him the end to hold before rolling him slowly up the bed so he became wrapped up in the blanket. Juice laughed, wriggling around inside like a caterpillar. When Pixie was done she grabbed the bottom end of the roll and turned him so Juice was laying in the bed properly with his head on the pillows. She then took off her boots and sat down on the bed, heaving Juice up a bit so she could cradle his torso, resting his head on her shoulder. "That better?"

Juice nodded. "I'm gonna be a badass butterfly."

Pixie giggled. "Oh yeah?" she asked him as she passed him another cookie. Juice produced a hand and held Pixie's staring at her fingers and bending them gently like he was trying to figure out how hands worked. Pixie hummed along to the Metallica song she could hear from outside as Juice looked at the smiley face tattoo.

"Your wrist is smiling at me." He said sleepily.

"It's just my tattoo that I got with Happy, remember?"

"Juice pouted. "I wanna get matching tattoos with you!"

Pixie laughed again, finding drunk/high Juice silly. "What would we get?"

"Skulls, but with flowers on, coz you're a dead girl."

"What?" Pixie asked him.

"Burfday." Juice mumbled around another cookie.

A lightbulb went off in Pixie's head. "Oh! You mean I was born on the 'Day of the Dead'? So you wanna get sugar skulls?"

"Yeah!" Juice nodded. "You're my best friend. Bestest friend ever."

"You're my best friend too buddy." Pixie said, retrieving a broken off piece of cookie from the blanket and passing it to him. Juice looked like he was going to cry again. "What's happening in Juice world?"

"Want bracelets."

"What kind?" Pixie asked.

"Friendship ones, coz we don't have tatts yet." Juice nodded, wriggling in his cocoon. Pixie had an idea so set him down on the bed and took the cookies out of his reach so he wouldn't choke on them whilst she searched for something in the cupboards.

"Got them!" Pixie cheered, coming back with a little package, Juice went cross-eyed when she tried to show him what they were, so she explained, not entirely sure how well he could see. "When I was shopping with Happy, we found this bracelet set which I haven't got around to wearing, so we can use them." Pixie suggested. There were two bracelets on a piece of card. One was a silver chain with a silver skull charm and the other was an exact replica but in gold. "What do you think buddy?"

Juice nodded eagerly, making a grabby hand at the bracelets. Pixie giggled and took the gold one off, putting it on Juice's wrist. He stared at it, mesmerised as Pixie put the silver one on herself, then showed it to him. "Matchy matchy." Juice giggled. Pixie lay down next to him so she could see his face better.

"You okay, bud?"

Juice nodded. "Now you're here."

"I'm proud of you for what you did earlier, you took charge and told everyone your plan with Chibs." Pixie told him.

Juice's eyes sparkled and he grinned from the praise. "Yay. I'm sleepy."

"Want me to go?"

Juice shook his head adamantly, grabbing her hand. "Stay, sing?"  
Pixie nodded, stroking the side of his face to calm down the wriggling as she tried to work out what song would work out well as a lullaby. She recalled Lana Del Ray's "Ride", a song that she personally felt a connection with and reached for Juice's kutte, seeing if he had it on his iPod, which he did. She put an earbud in one of Juice's ears and put the other in hers so they could hear the music as she sang along, watching Juice's eyes grow heavy before he finally passed out. Pixie kept singing, just in case Juice woke up again, finding comfort in it herself.

Outside, Chibs and Tig returned from their vengeance trip and Jax pointed them in the direction of the dorms. When they opened the door, they heard Pixie singing and stayed quiet wanting to listen too. When she was done, she switched the iPod off and sat up. "He's out. Probably gonna sleep until tomorrow." Pixie told them.

"You're a good sister to him, I would've drawn on him." Tig chuckled, laughing when Pixie lifted up Juice's hand to show that she'd drawn over it in weird doodles and flowers.

"I'm chaotically good." Pixie giggled. "You both need to wash your hands." She said pointing at where both Chibs and Tig had blood on their knuckles.

"It's not ours, don't worry, lass." Chibs explained. "You feelin' okay?"

"Yeah, I just needed to regroup, that fucker kinda threw me for a loop." Pixie explained. Tig kissed her and stroked her hair.

"You don't ever have to worry about him." He said firmly whilst Chibs went to wash his hands.

"Thanks guys, how 'bout once you get cleaned up, we go out and enjoy the rest of the celebrations?"

"Anything you want, darlin'." Tig smiled.

Pixie ended up sitting on Tig's lap, his arms around her protectively, they were sitting down with Chibs, Jax, Norse and Happy and laughing as she recounted tales of her pranks and mischief to Norse and got to know her new friend better. Jax told him about how she's managed to defeat him in the ring, and their ongoing play-fight battle, then how she and Half-Sack hand pranked the rest of the Sons with her prosthetic leg and a pool of fake blood. Happy explained why they had matching tattoos, he had his shirt off at that point, after having misplaced it once he'd had fun in the fight ring. The night carried on, with Pixie surrounded by her friends and family until the party started drawing to a close, at which point, Pixie and Tig decided to head back for their own little 'party'. 

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

** Hi guys! Sorry this was so long, I had so much I wanted to touch on before the time skip and the finale! I can't believe we're so close to the end of this book! **


	77. Author's Note!

I just wanted to pop in to say a huuuge thank you to [ashangel94](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashangel94), [mawniq](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mawniq), [Kayleecatterall](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kayleecatterall), [Kaelleon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaelleon), [Vickie43](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vickie43), [PWicked](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PWicked), [sSbaby_nerdSs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sSbaby_nerdSs), [Amandarine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amandarine), [GlowingAsh371](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlowingAsh371), [Rougemunchkin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rougemunchkin), [McCostaMc](https://archiveofourown.org/users/McCostaMc), [soccerfan504](https://archiveofourown.org/users/soccerfan504), [Holteberg](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Holteberg), [Sarah98](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarah98), [lonelybibliophile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonelybibliophile), [Purple_StormDragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purple_StormDragon), and [Totalmadness1987](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Totalmadness1987) as well as 12 guests who left kudos and read my story, you guys are a huge motivation for me and Pixie would not be here without you. I'd also like to thank for [MsSalvatore1864](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsSalvatore1864/pseuds/MsSalvatore1864) , [GlowingAsh371](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlowingAsh371/pseuds/GlowingAsh371) and [Purple_StormDragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purple_StormDragon/pseuds/Purple_StormDragon) for commenting and suggesting ideas, you guys are absolute angels and I love seeing you pop up in my notifications! 

There is going to be a time skip to the season finale, where I'll tell you all what Pixie and the Sons have been up to in the months that followed, and then there's going to be some major drama, so stay tuned!!!


	78. Time Skip

Over the next few months, Pixie found herself busier than she'd probably ever been in her life. Twice a week, she was babysitting Ellie and Kenny, caring for them in the evenings and doing fun things with them during the days where Opie and Donna wanted to spend time together at home. On these days, Moby, Lowell's son, joined them often, so Lowell could attend his therapy sessions too. Pixie would take the kids out to parks with Chibs in his Land Rover, using the time to teach them self-defence or basic gymnastics. Chibs thoroughly enjoyed these days, as he loved taking care of the kids, as well as spending time with Pixie. Happy surprised everyone (except for Pixie) by becoming attached to the Winston kids and Moby too, especially when Ellie showed him a drawing of a snake she'd done, and they then proceeded to sit for what must have been two hours, drawing together in the clubhouse whilst Kenny played with Moby, Lowell and Jax. Tig also helped out during the days, mainly to help Pixie and spend time with her, but he did have a soft spot for Moby. Jax linked up with Pixie for a lot of the home activities, wanting to learn how to cook, and care for the kids, so it wasn't much of an adjustment for when Abel came home. At least once a week, Pixie and Jax would meet up for 'baby classes' where Pixie and sometimes Donna would teach him the basics of looking after a baby, going to the hospital to visit Abel with Jax so they could teach him and spend time with Abel too, or using some of Ellie's baby dolls to demonstrate if they were home with the other kids. Tig was almost always elsewhere for these sessions, not wanting to be in a ten mile radius of any kind of doll. He'd already had a run in when he'd tried to put Ellie to bed whilst Pixie was dealing with Kenny, when there'd been a bang and a yelp before Tig had come scampering into the room, with Ellie running along behind holding her rag doll, wondering why Tig was so spooked. Once she understood, she'd gone back and tucked away all her dolls, so Tig would finish telling her about how to change a tire on a Harley. Donna had taken Pixie's advice on giving Ellie the old Harley magazines and manuals, so every evening, she'd read one with Opie when he was home, or Pixie and/or one of the Sons, learning a new fact before she went to sleep. No doubt dreaming of riding one some day. On Saturdays, if Pixie had a shift, she'd sometimes bring Ellie over to the garage to help out and learn, making Opie very proud of his budding young mechanic.

When Pixie wasn't babysitting the kids or Jax, working in the garage or helping out with Sons business, She was spending some of her free time with Juice at his place, gaming with him, Half-Sack and Lowell, and sometimes the older sons. Tig surprised himself after becoming hooked on 'Halo' and Juice and he would spend hours gaming together on days when he came with Pixie to hang out with Juice. Though Tig's all time favourite days were when he and Pixie did DIY projects, slowly turning their house into a proper home. They'd painted the hall and refurbished the kitchen, moving furniture between them and borrowing the club's van to go shopping at Home Depot for furniture and paints. When they were done for the day, they'd take steamy baths, make a pillow fort and watch horror films or comedies, snuggling up together and spending quality time with one another. He loved the mornings too, where he got to wake up and see Pixie sleeping peacefully next to him, like an angel, his angel. He loved their silly morning rituals of tickling whoever didn't wake up first, surprising them awake. Or having funny arguments about what they wanted for breakfast, making each other laugh with the suggestions to the point where they forgot what they were arguing about in the first place. His relationship with Pixie was unlike anything he'd ever experienced before, or even hoped to have. There was just so much love, fire, support and trust between them. The other Sons were noticing it too, seeing how Tig didn't have such a short fuse, and was more comfortable in his own skin, thanks to Pixie. Pixie was also less anxious and worried all the time, having had time to fully process her traumas and work on developing her new life.

Pixie also had weekly scheduled family nights with Chibs, where they'd tuck up on the sofa together, often talking though the night about their lives, or going through Pixie's photos of her childhood, so Chibs could learn more about her past, as they quickly grew closer. They also found they had a very similar taste in books, and would read together, either in comfortable silence, or they'd read extracts out together, talking about them. They also made sure to keep visiting Cammy, who was hiding out in Piney's cabin whilst he recovered, Gemma was doing a good job of taking care of him too, until they could get him well enough to flee Charming.

When Happy was around, he and Pixie would go on rides together, or draw tattoo designs for each other. They became a lot closer, and Pixie suggested he patch to Charming considering he was down there more than Tacoma, especially as his ailing elderly mother was in a care home in Bakersfield and he wanted to spend what little time he had left with her there. Pixie even came on a visit to see her, and got to see a softer side to Happy. It was clear he loved his mother dearly and Pixie took some photos of them together for his room. They spent one long day with Half-Sack where Happy gave them their memorial tattoos, by the end of it, all of them were exhausted, but the tattoos had come out great. Pixie and Happy had bounced around ideas about how to cover Pixie's IRA scars, to help improve her confidence. In the end they designed a rose sleeve that wrapped around Pixie's thigh and joined up with the rose tattoo she already had on her hip. The 'I' and the 'R' had been easy for Happy to tattoo over, as the scars weren't that bad, however, the 'A' that was a hand span above Pixie's knee, was much deeper and Happy wasn't as sure that the red colour would take, and if Pixie wanted ink over it, the safest option was black. Chibs, who had been there for moral support, pointed out that the "A" looked like the anarchy symbol which was synonymous with the Sons, and pointed out that he had an 'A' tattoo on his arm. The three of them had redesigned the sleeve to incorporate the symbol, as well as putting ten little crow silhouettes in between the leaves and the roses to carry on the black of the symbol so it fit better and looked like it was supposed to be a part of it. The significance of the ten, Pixie explained were to represent her Sons family, Chibs, Jax, Juice, Opie, Happy, Bobby, Half-Sack, Tig, Clay and Piney. Both Happy and Chibs got a little choked up over this detail, realising how much Pixie adored them and her Sons brothers. Happy designed a ring of roses to frame the Anarchy tattoo, and when it was finally complete, and on Pixie's body, Pixie couldn't believe how well it had turned out. When Tig finally saw it, he was mesmerised, finding the tattoo so well designed and fitting Pixie's personality. He helped Pixie take care of it, rubbing lotion in and massaging it, though his hands had a habit of wandering.

Pixie's relationship with Bobby also became much tighter, she helped him manage the books and accounts, as between them they were able to get through it much faster and with no errors either. Bobby taught Pixie how to play guitar whenever they had free time to spare, and even became her unofficial bodyguard when Pixie wanted to go hustle. Bobby enjoyed seeing Pixie do what she did best, and helped keep her safe if things went downhill at any point. This wasn't a secret from the other Sons, but what they did with the money was definitely unknown by most of them, as Pixie was dividing it between a backup bank account for herself in case of emergencies, and then the other half was going into Opie's bank account amongst his payments from the club so he wouldn't get suspicious. She knew Opie's debts were causing the majority of the fights, and she knew she couldn't keep him financially steady forever, but the plan was that once the majority of the bills were paid and that the Winston's were out of debt, Pixie would stop, but be there to help should they ever need it again.

In terms of the Sons business, even though the deal with the Mayans had gone through, and Happy had executed Alvarez' son, Eli, they found themselves constantly in hot water. ATF's presence in Charming was a constant battle, they'd taken over the police station and Agent Stahl was becoming a significant problem. She dismissed Unser after finding enough evidence to show he was in cahoots with the Sons, meaning they had no police support, especially when they needed it the most. Stahl had also questioned Donna, Gemma and Pixie, grilling them on what they knew. They all stayed loyal, and Pixie tried to be as nonchalant as possible, in the hopes that Stahl wouldn't look too close into her background. Juice had put together a fake paper trail for her, complete with school records, medical history and any other documentation thanks to his connections. Stahl had even tried to take down Luann in the hopes she could get Otto to fold and rat, but this didn't work out in Stahl's favour. This didn't stop her from trying to find a weak link to break the club though, which meant Pixie worked hard to keep the club's morals up and get them all on the same page, so that there were no transgressions or issues that could be exploited. Pixie kept Donna safe through the whole thing, explaining what was happening to the club and answering her questions. Because Pixie and the club had been supporting her family, and including her as much as they could, she became more open to it, and even supportive of the club, and Opie. The therapy sessions and date nights were helping to rebuild her relationship with Opie, making them stronger than ever too, which definitely helped. Pixie and Donna developed a strong friendship with each other, and Pixie helped teach her how to shoot a gun, and learn self-defense, just in case that was needed, but also so Donna could feel self-empowered.

Things got tense when Cherry came clean to Pixie once she heard ATF were investigating and questioning all the women related to Samcro and some ATF agents had turned up at the nail salon Cherry worked at. It turned out her real name was Rita and she'd burnt down her sadistic and abusive ex-boyfriend's condo back in Nevada to escape the relationship once and for all. The Indian Hills Sons had taken her in when they found her desperate for safety and the rest was history, but it meant she was wanted for grand theft and arson. Pixie raised the alarm and smuggled her out to the cabin in the boot of Chibs' Land Rover, knowing that she had to do what she could to save her friend from being arrested and extradited back to Nevada, where she could face a minimum of twenty-five years behind bars. Half-Sack was distraught when he found out about Cherry's past and promised her that it didn't matter to him, and he'd keep her safe from her ex. Luann wasn't so lucky and ended up being brought in on drug charges. Jax knew he had to step in with Opie, and since Unser was on board with the club and wanted ATF out of his town, he managed to get Jax and Opie into the jail to talk to Luann so she could warn Otto about the RICO act that Stahl was trying to bring the club down with. The club knew they'd need a distraction to get all the cops out of the station, so Pixie, Bobby, Tig and Piney went down to a country bar and started up a bar fight between two drunk parties. Tig ended up getting roped into it to help start the fight off whilst Bobby, Pixie and Piney stood back and watched the chaos unfold. Pixie had to admit, seeing her man in action take down at least three guys one after another before he slipped out of the fight was more than a little hot. Back at the station, Opie and Jax ended up uncovering Hale's sexual relationship with Stahl in the process of getting the message to Luann.

To keep Cherry safe, they knew they had to get her out of Charming, so Happy had smuggled her and Half-Sack along with Cammy out to Canada using one of Unser's trucks to lie low with the Alberta, Canada charter until the others could work out how to make it better. Pixie was saddened by the fact she wouldn't see Half-Sack or Cherry for a long while, but understood that it had to be done. Half-Sack was equally panicked and worried, but Pixie assured him that they'd be fine. Juice was already in the process of obtaining fake ID's for her, but it was going to take some time. To make sure they were safe, Pixie gave them access to her emergency bank account which had amassed a significant amount of money in it so Half-Sack and Cherry could get by up there.

Just when they though the heat was off them for a moment, and they were revelling int he fact Stahl got her nose broken by Otto, Bobby was then arrested for the murder of Brenan Heffner, the Port Commissioner who'd killed McKeevy. The clubhouse had once again been raided one evening, with a window being smashed and the Sons being forcibly restrained as Bobby had been taken down. Tig had almost gone berserk when he'd seen one of the cops shove Pixie to the ground whilst her hands were behind her back, causing her to hit her head, but she'd stopped him, knowing the last thing the club needed was two members behind bars. Bobby had had to shoot Hefner instead of Opie when Opie started struggling to go through with it. When Opie had then failed to turn up at church, Pixie and Jax stuck up for him against Clay and Tig. The latter of which caused another bathroom argument before Tig calmed down enough to see how much trust Pixie had for Opie and had some sense talked into him. Pixie and Jax had gone out to search going to all his usual haunts and finding Donna and the kids missing too. They managed to talk to a neighbour, Nina, who said that she'd been woken by headlights around two in the morning and she'd spotted three black sedans taking Opie, Donna and the kids, along with some luggage. Pixie's heart was in her throat as she listened, she knew it had to be Stahl making it look like Opie had ratted to cause a weakness in the club, Jax did too. Pixie warned Juice just in time, knowing he was doing his computer stuff, looking for any activity on Opie's bank account and he came across a huge Federal wire transfer which had paid off almost all of Opie's biggest debts for his mortgage, credit cards and car payments. Jax, who'd been listening to the conversation, warned him not to jump to conclusions, and to tell Clay and Tig, but warn them of the same thing. When they got back to the clubhouse, they were met by a frantic Gemma, and Piney's ex-wife, Mary who'd been called by the Feds to come and collect her grand-kids from the facility in Stockton. Jax and Pixie's hearts sank further, they trusted Opie and knew he would sooner die than rat, but Clay and Tig weren't so sure. The four of them hashed it out in the church, causing another argument between Tig and Pixie. Tig was worried for the club and knew Opie had been desperate to please Donna and save the marriage, so felt like he'd gone to WitPro to do just that, and had thrown Bobby under the bus to do it. Pixie called bullshit, she'd spoken to him right before things hit the fan and he disappeared. Opie had seemed fine and she was convinced he would've told her if he was panicking about anything or worried for his family, considering she'd spent the last month or so spending almost all her time with them, and Opie trusted her implicitly. On top of all that, Wendy came to visit and ended up staying at Jax's house, seeing as he hadn't moved in yet. Pixie reminded him that he needed to be careful, as Wendy and him didn't have a great track record, and she needed to focus on rehab, not reigniting their romance, which Jax agreed to, his main focus was Opie and bringing Abel home.

Now the club anxiously awaited Opie's return from Federal facility in Stockton...

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ 


	79. Opie's Return

As soon as Opie finally had his cellphone back, and saw the sheer amount of missed calls from the club and Pixie, he called her, telling her that he was coming back and to warn Jax and the others because he wanted to explain what happened. Pixie relayed to the message and the two of them ran out to the lot where they found Tig and Clay having a smoke.

"Clay, Ope left Stockton." Jax called as the pair neared them. Clay and Tig stood up, and walked towards Pixie and Jax, closing up the distance. "He wants to come in, tell us what happened."

"That's good." Clay nodded. "We all want that." He carried on walking towards his bike, but Jax stopped him.

"Hey. I need to know he's gonna be safe, despite all the shit we think we know." Jax said firmly, looking at Tig and Clay, Pixie did the same, focusing on Tig in particular. She knew he had a habit of jumping the gun, and then stubbornly sticking to his beliefs, and she wanted to make sure that didn't happen. Tig put an arm around her, trying to ease her worry.

"Ope's a member of this club, he's gonna get his time, safe room." Clay assured him. Jax looked to Tig.

"Yeah." He nodded.

" _Tig_." Pixie murmured.

"Hey, I know we had our argument earlier, and I'm sorry, okay? I promise, we're gonna hear him out, baby." Tig told her, Pixie's face was worried again and Tig's heart broke at the sight. She'd finally been making progress with her anxiety, only to have it start to unravel because of Stahl's meddling.

"Okay." Jax nodded, looking a little more at ease.

"I gotta go see Rosen, make sure Bobby's okay." Clay explained. "You tell Ope he comes in when I get back, alright?"

"A'ight." Jax agreed.

"Tell Bobby I miss him, would ya'?" Pixie asked Clay, making the older man smile.

"Sure, kiddo. Bet he'd love to hear from his junior accountant."

Everyone hugged goodbye, and Tig kissed Pixie firmly. "It's all gonna be okay, baby girl, okay? Go check on Ope and I'll be back soon."

Pixie kissed his cheek. "Stay safe, I love you."  
"Love you too, angel." Tig smiled. "And don't eat those cookies until I get home." He added, making an 'I'm watching you' gesture to make Pixie smile.

Jax and Pixie watched the other two head out before they got on their bikes and headed over to Opie's place, anxious to see if he was alright. As soon as they pulled into Opie's drive, he came out the door, a harassed expression on his face. Pixie pretty much threw down her helmet and launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she kissed his cheek.

"Ope! Thank god you're okay!"

"I am now." Opie grunted, hugging Pixie tightly. He'd really needed a hug from her, they were always filled with so much love that it calmed his nerves and made him feel so much better. He carried her down the drive so he could greet Jax and hug him too, moving Pixie in his arms so they could have a group hug, putting their heads together.

"Gonna make this right, bro." Jax said to him once they let go of each other.

"Yeah, I didn't say a thing, neither did Donna, we got out of there as soon as we could."

"I know, bro. How is she and the kids doing?" Pixie asked as Opie gestured for the two of them to follow him into the house. Pixie's question was answered as Kenny and Ellie appeared from upstairs, both giving shouts of delight.

"Pixie!" Ellie exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Pixie's torso. "The bad people took us, I didn't say nothin'." Ellie said adamantly. Opie's eyebrows raised at how well Ellie had understood the situation.

"It's okay, sweetheart, I know, you're a good girl." Pixie soothed, picking Kenny up who was sucking his thumb, a sign he was nervous. "You both did so well, I missed you guys."

"We missed you too, Mom's in the kitchen, she's not happy either." Ellie explained.

"That's okay, I'll talk to her, how 'bout you take Kenny and show uncle Jax those karate moves I showed you?"

Ellie's eyes lit up as Pixie passed Kenny over to Jax, knowing Kenny liked him a lot. "Sure, c'mon." Ellie nodded, taking Jax's hand, Opie followed the group out, wanting to see what his kids were up to, and knew Donna and Pixie probably wanted privacy. Pixie went to the kitchen and found Donna sitting on the floor next to the sink, she got down too and gave her a small nudge.

"I know it's called a sink, but I don't think you're meant to actually sink to the floor." Pixie said, she knew Donna liked her stupid sense of humour. Sure enough Donna let out a tearful laugh and put her head on Pixie's shoulder.

"It was so awful. They wouldn't tell us what was happening and as soon as we got to the facility they just took Opie away. I was so scared he was going to be arrested and then I had to keep the kids calm and stay strong for them, but inside I was panicking so hard."

Pixie put her arm around Donna. "Hey, I would have been the exact same way. You all got out and that's the main thing. You're a good mum."  
"Didn't feel like one, that Stahl bitch kept trying to tell me how to look after my family, even sent Mary up to stir the pot."

Pixie knew how much Donna and Opie disliked his mother. "Oof, they must be really reaching if they called in the Wicked Witch of the West."

Donna laughed again and sat up a little. "I'm saving that one, I think they worked out she got out of the club and is anti-Sons so were hoping they could sway me. I'm glad you've been keeping me up to date though and teaching me about the club, I understand it and Harry so much better. They were trying to pin him for a shooting?"

Pixie was about to speak, but suddenly had a scary thought. "Donnie, did the feds take your phones?"

"Yeah, why?" Donna asked. Pixie stood up and picked up Donna's phone on the counter, taking the back off of it and searching for something. "Pixie?" Donna asked.

Pixie let out a sigh of relief when she found no bug. "Sometimes the feds can bug phones or other devices if they're desperate enough, Juice told me about it. Yours is fine, so I'll tell you about the shooting, but we should probably check Opie's after." Pixie explained.

Donna's eyes went wide. "You think they might be spying on us?"

"Stahl's willing to paint Opie as a rat, full well knowing that it could kill him, so I think she's willing to try anything. Reckless bitch."

Donna nodded, seeing the sense. "Why don't we talk about it with the boys outside then, just until we know the house is safe?"

Pixie nodded. "Good thinking, I'll be seeing Juice later, so I'll ask him about it too."

Once outside, Jax explained about Brenan's shooting whilst Pixie took the kids inside to distract them from hearing about the violence, doing colouring with them instead. After a while, Jax came through with Opie and Donna.

"Clay's back, we gotta go." He nodded, everyone said a hasty goodbye before Jax, Pixie and Opie drove off, Opie opting to take his truck rather than his bike. Pixie had a nervous pit in her stomach thinking about how the meeting was going to go. She just hoped to hell that Opie could convince Clay or else there was going to be some major trouble ahead, and Pixie was determined that she wasn't going to lose another brother. She glanced down at her thigh where it was decorated with the crows and roses, homing in on one with outstretched wings which she'd mentally marked as Opie's. When the group arrived, most of the club's bikes were there, meaning there'd been a call put in for everyone to be present. The trio walked in together to be greeted by Piney first.

"How you doing, son?" He asked affectionately, knowing Opie needed his support.

"I'm good, I'm good." Opie assured him, smiling with relief on his face as he hugged his dad.

"Hi darlin'." Piney greeted Pixie next, giving her a warm bear hug and kissed the top of her head. The pair of them had grown ever closer over the last couple of months, taking time to ride together and go hustling when Bobby was busy, Piney loved doing things like that with Pixie as it made him feel more alive again and he always had a bounce in his step the day after Pixie and he had been out. He viewed her as his own daughter or granddaughter, and was immensely proud of her.

"Hi, Piney, You okay?" Pixie asked him as he let her go.

"Better now you're here, sweetheart." Piney smiled before stepping back so he could greet Jax whilst Pixie did the rounds with Opie, greeting everyone. When Pixie got to Juice, both of them sensed each other was tense and nervous and both raised an eyebrow at each other at the same time.

"Where's your head, J?" Pixie murmured.

"I dunno, I'm worried." He murmured into her ear as they hugged each other tight.

"I know, I trust Opie though, he didn't rat, I'll bet my life on that." Pixie said firmly, dispelling any concern about Opie from Juice's mind, he trusted Pixie with his life, and if she was sure about something, odds are she was usually right, a fact she loved to tease Juice about.

"Okay, cariño." Juice said with a small nod. Pixie fist bumped him before going over to Tig who stubbed out his cigarette.

"How'd things go with the Rosen guy?" Pixie asked him, before she kissed him hello.

"Fine." Tig said noncommittally, kissing her back. "Bobby's good."

Pixie bit her lip at Tig's brief responses. "At least Bobby's okay." She replied. "I'm gonna trust that whatever you're keeping from me isn't something that's gonna affect the club badly." Pixie told him.

Tig rubbed his brow, closing his eyes for a second before he looked back up at her. "I don't want to fight anymore, darlin'."

"Neither do I Tiggy, so please don't shut me out." Pixie told him, giving him a hug.

"Rock and a hard place, baby." Tig murmured back before he stood up as Clay came closer. "Go get the phone box."

Pixie nodded, her suspicions not easing any, but she went to grab the old cookie tin they used to house all the phones whilst they went into church so their meetings were private and undisturbed. She put hers in and stood by the church doors as Opie passed her, putting his phone in and giving her a half-smile, tugging her braid gently so Pixie would smile back. The others followed suit before Pixie put the box down on the pool table. Tig hadn't gone past her, which worried Pixie, she stuck her head round the door and looked at Clay.

"Tig's not come through, want me to get him?"

" _No_." Clay said a little more sharper than he intended. "He'll be here in a minute, sit down, kiddo." He tried to cover, the others hadn't noticed but Pixie's alarm bells were once again ringing inside her head. Clay never called her 'kiddo' unless he was pleased with her, or was trying to be gentle, neither of which this situation called for. Pixie shut the doors and Juice patted Bobby's seat next to him, thinking Pixie may as well fill the spot whilst Bobby was elsewhere. Pixie sat, but her leg bounced under the table as she gauged the room, something was off, very off, and it was bugging her that the others weren't picking up on it, except for Jax, who exchanged a quick glance with her. "Appreciate you comin', Ope." Clay announced, looking to Opie who nodded at him. "It says a lot."

"It says he's not a rat." Piney said plain and simple, Pixie nodded her head and pulled her left leg up so she could stop it bouncing. Juice caught her fidgeting and pulled out a loop of bike chain he'd made and kept on him for Pixie to fiddle with instead of destroying anything she had in her hands. Clay nodded and patted the table.

"Well, we got one member in jail and another in a WitPro facility." He explained before looking at Opie darkly. "You can understand my worry."

There was a tense pause before Opie spoke up. "Yeah, I know how this looks- what Stahl has done. She set me up to look like a rat. It's _all_ a lie." He took a drag of his cigarette before he looked down at the table almost in disbelief. "She threatened me with my own club. I don't know who the hell the witness is, but it sure as shit it ain't me." Opie said looking at Clay who had been staring at him with a dark, unreadable expression the whole time. Jax looked over at him, trying to gauge where he was landing with Opie's explanation.

Pixie looked like she wanted to say something, and Jax picked up on it. "What?"

"I just think it's a little insane that you guys," Pixie gestured vaguely in Clay's direction, but kept the plural to make sure he couldn't yell at her for accusing him on stuff, "even thought for a second that Opie was a rat, I mean Hefner was visiting his side-bird, she was probably watching him leave through the window making sure he made it to his car safe or somethin', I mean _everyone_ does that, I've seen you do it to Gemma, Clay." Pixie explained. "She probably saw the whole thing go down, and chirped when Stahl came knocking, probably called the cops in the first place." Everyone was silent as they absorbed Pixie's theory. Pixie looked around the table in surprise. "Had no one thought of that? _Anybody_? Mother of kittens, you guys seriously need to use your brains." Pixie said exasperatedly.

"Well we were a little focused elsewhere." Clay snapped.

"Because that's what Stahl wanted you to do." Pixie fired back. "If we want to take this bitch from hell down, we have to stop feeding into and believing in her manipulative lies. I mean Donna did a better job at fending her off than you did." She said fiercely.

"Pixie's right." Jax stepped in before Clay could shout. "We have to be smarter than this, Pixie's also right about Donna, she didn't rat either."

"It's true." Opie jumped in, understanding what Jax was doing. "She tried to turn Donna against me. Offered her that whole WitPro-bullshit dream. But she turned it down. She could've walked away, or given them info, but she stayed and trusted me and the club. Trusted that if I came down here and had the chance to tell you guys the truth, that I could make this right." Opie finished, looking around the room at his Sons family, and gave Pixie a small smile for defending him so vehemently. "I want to make this right." Opie said with conviction, looking at Clay.

"What does that mean?" Clay responded, eyeing him.

"I know I haven't been dependable lately and struggling with my demons, but I want to come back, go all in." Opie tried to explain, he paused for a moment, gathering his words. "I-" He started just as Tig burst through the door.

"Sorry." Tig grunted before taking his seat.

"I'm just saying that getting squeezed made me realise that I can't do this with one foot out the door. I'm here, I'm in." Opie tried again. He was not a man of many words, so trying to talk in front of everybody always made him stumble and fumble, trying to make sense. "No more doubts. No more mistakes." He finished. Pixie and Jax nodded in encouragement at him. Pixie was watching Tig's behaviour whilst listening to Opie, Tig's demeanor had changed, and not for the better. She could read his body language like a road sign, and this one was pointing to trouble ahead. Tig had a frown, his eyes were unfocused and dark and he rubbed his chin before leaning low and forward on his arms. Whatever he'd been up to, he wasn't happy about it. Pixie's heart thumped as she tried to work out what he could have been doing.

"You're a good man, Ope." Clay said after a moment.

Opie locked eyes with him. "Am I good with you, Clay? With the M.C.?" Opie asked. Tig was looking at Opie, as was the rest of the group, but Pixie was eyeing Tig in particular, trying to get any kind of clue from his behaviour. At the mention of the M.C., Tig seemed to roll his eyes a little and his scowl deepened subconsciously. Pixie tried not to show that she spotted it, but she couldn't help the panic in her mind as she realised that Tig still firmly believed Opie was a rat, and from the looks of things, so did Clay. He was much better at hiding his emotions, but Pixie was used to watching Clay for his reactions in meetings and arguments, and right now, he was doing his poker face, something he wouldn't be doing if he believed Opie. He would be agreeing and smiling, but instead he stayed neutral.

"Yeah. We're good." Clay said after another tense moment, the anxiety in the air was almost palpable as everyone nervously waited for Clay's cue.

Opie gave a sigh or relief and a smile before he took a drag of his cigarette to calm his tension. Clay banged the gavel and the room seemed to breathe again too.

"Ah!" Chibs cheered, grinning and hugging Opie as the others got up to do the same. Pixie caught the sour look on Tig's face at the ruling, this time he caught her looking at him and tried to hide it, smiling at her instead as he got up.

"Good news, Ope, great news!" The other Sons congratulated him as Piney heaved himself onto his feet so he could hug his son too.

"Hey. I'm proud of you, son." Piney said sincerely. He'd been a lot more open with Opie since Pixie's talk and their relationship as father and son had never been better.

"Thanks, Pop." Opie grinned before he and the other Sons left the room. Pixie started gathering up all the bottles and emptying the ash trays. She was a little taken aback that Tig helped her, or rather hurried her along.

"You good, Tiggy?" Pixie asked him quietly as he grouped everything together.

"Sure, baby." He grunted, his answer doing nothing to dispel Pixie's worries as she was ushered out of the room with Jax. Tig closed the door behind her, shutting him and Clay in. As she jostled with the armful Tig had given her so she wouldn't come back into the room, a load of ash and cigarettes flopped down onto the floor outside the door and in the hallway.

"Chain smoking bastards." Pixie muttered under her breath as she dumped everything in the utility room trash and put the ash trays in the sink. She then grabbed the dustpan and brush before heading back out into the hall, watching Jax and Opie leave with Piney to celebrate. Jax turned round and beckoned her, but she shook her head and pointed to the ash on the floor.

"Ha, klutz." Jax joked before leaving, waving 'bye' to her.

Pixie smiled and shook her head, starting to sweep the mound. The ash kept scattering and sticking to the brush bristles so it took her longer than anticipated.

"-room is clean." She heard Tig's muffled voice on the other side of the door.

 _Well I should hope so,_ Pixie thought to herself as she carried on sweeping.

"Anything?" Clay's voice came through the door too, quiet, but intelligible to Pixie's sharp ears.

"His truck was wired." Tig's voice responded which made Pixie exhale sharply, spreading the ash further. She _had_ to have misheard that, surely, Pixie felt like she was accidentally eavesdropping, so made to move away from the door, but the next words out of Tig's mouth stopped her. "His phone was wired too. I killed them both." Tig's voice carried on, Pixie froze as her blood ran cold. She was rooted to the spot, completely unable to move as she tried to justify what she'd heard.

"-Christ. Opie has turned on us." Clay growled low, his boots sounding as he neared the door.

 _NO,NO NO, NO,_ Pixie screamed in her head as her worst fears were realised, she'd been right with her suspicions in church, Tig and Clay really didn't believe Opie.

"This has got to happen, Clay." Tig's voice came low and sharp through the door. His voice was the same as when he felt like his club and family were being threatened, she knew his protective side was overruling logical thinking and by the sounds of it, Clay was feeding into that.

"Jax'll never be able to hurt him." Clay said. "Taking this to a vote- I've seen this shit happen before. I mean this is the kind of shit that can crush a charter." Clay growled, he sounded upset. Pixie anxiously started sweeping the ash again, she really didn't mean to snoop, it was a sheer fluke that she'd even heard this conversation, her mind whirled as she wrestled with her head as to what to do for the best. Part of her wanted to move away from the door, stop listening and then get back to sweeping when they left, not wanting to snoop on a private talk. The other half of her wanted desperately for her to stay, she had to find out where Clay was landing on this, Pixie knew ratting meant death for the Sons, and she'd be damned if she let Opie die for something he didn't do. Pixie's protective side won and she stayed put, keeping her head down as she swept. "We gotta do this quiet."

"Me and you." Tig agreed.

"For Bobby, and for the club." Clay nodded. "We need total deniability. This death can _never_ land at our feet." Clay growled aggressively.

"I understand." Tig said, though there was sadness in his voice. Pixie managed to sweep up the ash and darted into the utility room as she heard footsteps approach coming towards the hall. She dumped the ash and squished herself into the gap between the wall and the dryer as she tried to figure out what to do, not wanting to speak to anyone yet, she needed to control her whirling mind or else the others would know something was wrong. Pixie knew how Clay operated, she'd become very well acquainted with that since she arrived. She knew he felt passionately about the fact Opie was a rat, and unless she found evidence to clearly say Opie was not, Clay's mind would not be swayed. This meant that if he caught wind that anyone else knew about his plan to execute Opie, he'd deny it or stop it, but take Opie out in a different fashion behind everyone's backs, and Pixie may not be so lucky as to find out what that plan could be, especially as Clay would be more likely to keep it from the entire club, even more so than how he was doing it now. Pixie had to work out how Clay was planning on taking Opie down, and stop it. but she couldn't let anyone else know, partly for their protection, and partly so Clay didn't find out that she knew and changed whatever plan he was thinking of. She heard movement coming out of the church.

"Pixie?" Tig's voice called out from the main room of the clubhouse. Pixie panicked for a second before recovering, taking off her ring and putting it behind the dryer.

"In here, Tiggy." Pixie called back, taking a few deep breaths to calm her mind.

Tig came into the room, finding Pixie on all fours reaching behind the dryer.

"What're you still doing in here, baby?" He asked her, looking relieved to be near her.

"Took my ring off to wash the ashtrays and it dropped behind the dryer." Pixie covered.

"Need a hand?" Tig offered, pulling the dryer forwards so Pixie could grab her ring.

"Thanks, you're the best." Pixie smiled up at him.

"Can I talk to you for a bit?" Tig asked.

"I kinda figured there was somethin' on your mind considering how you were acting in church." Pixie pointed out. Tig nodded and shut the utility room door.

"I know. What makes you think Opie's telling the truth?"

Pixie pulled herself up to sit onto the worktop. "Because he's my brother, I trust him, and it logically makes no sense, no matter how hard Stahl tries to push it."

"Why?" Tig asked, pacing. Pixie wondered if he was going to tell her about his conversation with Clay just now, she hoped so.

"You weren't there when I said my theory, but I'm thinking it was Hefner's girlfriend that saw Bobby shoot Hefner. She was more than likely standing near the door, she could've seen him through a window, you know like how when one of us leaves the house, the other one will watch them go from the window?" Pixie explained.

"So you're basing your trust on what? Theories?"

"You found anything concrete to convict Opie of his rat charges?" Pixie argued back, seeing if Tig would admit he'd checked if Opie was wired.

"He spent the day in WitPro, they gave him money!" Tig growled.

"He didn't ask for that and came home the first chance he got!" Pixie fired back.

"They could've cut him a deal!"  
"Trager! This is Opie we're talking about, you've known him for decades, his whole life is this club, why would he rat?"

"For money? For Donna? Who knows?"

"Donna and I have talked about the club in detail, she trusts it more so than ever before. She knows how much the club means to Opie and she's not trying to pull him from it anymore." Pixie explained, taking a deep breath. "And the money wasn't much of a problem anyways, considering I was in the process of paying off some of his debts." Pixie came clean.

Tig looked taken aback. "What?"

"Bobby, Piney and I weren't just hustling for fun. Any money I earnt, I was halving and putting in the emergency bank account that H and Cherry are using, and the other half was going towards Opie's bank, Bobby was putting it in under the Sons transactions so Opie was just assuming it was from the club. That's how much I trust him, and that's how much I'm invested in him. I wouldn't be doing that if I didn't trust Opie implicitly and with my life. This whole fiasco doesn't change that either. I _know_ this is just Stahl's doing."

Tig ran his hands through his hair. "Baby, why didn't you tell me about that?"

"I didn't want Ope to find out, and I was a little worried you'd be mad." Pixie said quietly, staring down at her feet dangling over the edge of the counter. "You've been mad at me a lot lately since all this ATF shit came back with a vengeance."

Tig's face softened immediately. "Darlin', I'm never mad at you, okay? _Never_. I don't mean to yell, it just happens when I'm stressed, and right now, with ATF and Ope, I'm about at my max."

"Do you believe that Opie's not a rat?" Pixie asked him, looking into Tig's blue eyes.

"Angel, I'm the club's security and enforcer, I have to take all kinds of risks seriously, I can't be sure unless I see proof otherwise, you know that."

"But we all just agreed that he wasn't in church." Pixie looked at him.

"But we didn't vote on it, so for now it's just an agreement, not something that's been ruled out completely, we have to know once and for all that he's not before we can let him back in fully, even Opie knows that." Tig said sharply. "You need to separate your friendship with your club responsibilities."

Pixie got off the counter. "I love you, but that's where we disagree. You need to realise that this club is our family, and family _never_ betrays family, it's the outside forces that corrupt it." Pixie looked at him tearfully before she darted out of the room. Tig couldn't catch her and watched Pixie sprint out into the night.

"Shit." Tig breathed, he kicked the door frame. " _Shit_."

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	80. Family Ties

** WARNING: Mild smut at the end of the chapter **

Jax's face appeared over the edge of the clubhouse's roof lip. "Aha, found you, Piglet." Jax grinned at her as he finished climbing over the ladder. "She's up here!" Jax called down, leaning over the edge before he came and sat down next to where Pixie had curled herself up into a ball against the low wall of the roof.

"Who else is down there?" Pixie asked him, wiping a tear away.

"Just Opie and Juice, the others have gone to that bar across town Piney likes." Jax explained. "You wanna tell me what the waterworks are for?"

"You guys didn't have to stay for me." Pixie said as she watched Juice and then Opie appear over the edge and climb over onto the roof from the ladder.

"Uh oh, she's avoiding the question, that's not a good sign." Juice commented.

"Can we maybe not psychoanalyse me?" Pixie stuck her tongue out at him.  
"Well, can you maybe answer the question then, Piglet?" Jax quipped as he and the other two men sat down, Opie on the air con box and Juice on the roof floor so they could see her.

"I'm just stressed, the whole ATF thing just got too much. And Tig and I had another disagreement."

"Ah shit, what went down between you now?" Opie asked.

"Tig's worried about you from a Sergeant point of view, so's Clay." Pixie explained, she wanted to tell them all what she'd heard, but the fear stopped her. She had to make sure Opie was safe and telling him that Clay wanted him dead would only cause a stand-off between the two, which may not end well, and would cause Clay to take Opie out behind everyone's backs and Pixie may not be able to save him in time.

"I mean, that's understandable, I'd have my suspicions too, I just gotta find a way to prove I'm loyal." Opie thought aloud.

"It's bullshit that you're even having to do that, Ope. We believe you, so why can't they?" Jax said angrily.

"Well they do kinda have to take every risk seriously otherwise this club will eat shit." Juice said quietly.

"I feel like Tig wants to believe you." Pixie added, she'd spent a long while up on the roof after her confrontation with Tig, she kept replaying what she had heard in her mind, thinking about how sad Tig had sounded when Clay had confirmed he wanted Opie dead. "Clay, I dunno."

"We just have to find solid proof then." Jax nodded. "How the fuck do we do that?" He asked looking at Pixie.

"What?" Pixie asked him.

"You're the ideas girl." Jax insisted.

"I was having a breakdown a minute ago, bud, I'm not exactly in the right frame of mind for schemes." Pixie shook her head.

Opie's face softened. "C'mere, kiddo." He beckoned her over. Pixie got up and wrapped her arms around his neck, putting her face against his shoulder, seeking comfort. The fear of losing one of her closest brothers came back and she clung to him as the tears appeared and she shook against him. Opie was surprised but pulled Pixie into his lap so she'd be more comfortable and hugged her tightly, putting a hand on the back of her head to gently stroke her hair whilst Jax and Juice looked at each other and then over at Pixie.

"What's going on with you, cariño?" Juice said softly, panic in his eyes as he watched Pixie go to pieces against Opie.

"I don't wanna lose you, Ope." Pixie whimpered.

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere, nobody is, okay? We're all here." Opie said softly.

"I promise you, Piglet, this ain't gonna be another Highton, a'ight?" Jax leant over and patted her leg, trying to work out how to help. "We aren't gonna lose Ope, he's tough as shit and stubborn as hell, you know that."

Pixie nodded in response. _If only they knew_ , Pixie thought to herself. She wanted so badly to tell them that it made her heart ache, but the fear kept her silent, she couldn't take the risk. "I promise, I'm gonna keep you safe, Ope, all of you." Pixie looked up at Jax and Juice, giving a chance for Opie to wipe her tears with his shirt sleeve.

"We know, kiddo, I don't think the devil himself could stop you from doing that." Juice smiled. "We love you, Pix, and whatever's going on, we trust you and you can always talk to us."

Pixie nodded giving him a small smile. "Thanks, I love you guys so much."

"Why don't we have a rooftop confessional?" Juice suggested. "We can just say what's on our minds and talk through shit?"

"I'm down." Jax nodded.

"I'm in too." Ope agreed. "Pix?"  
"Yeah, I'd like that." Pixie said softly, feeling a little more in control as her brothers worked to try and calm her down. They took it in turns going around the circle and speaking their minds. The group helped talk Opie through his troubles and guilt for Bobby's arrest, and worked out that they needed to find out who Hefner's mistress was so that they could track the witness down and stop them from prosecuting Bobby and Opie. It would also help them prove to the club that Opie was well and truly innocent. Jax told them about his dad's book, and his struggle to decide what direction the club was heading in, and if John Teller would have been okay with it. Pixie helped remind him that Jax couldn't be John, he had to live his truth, and do what he thought was best, but sometimes Jax wasn't even sure what he wanted. Next, Juice was worried that his work to help Cherry and Half-Sack wasn't going quick enough, he wanted to set them up a fake background so they would take on new names and get rid of Cherry's past one so the both of them could safely return to Charming. He was worried that the new IDs would be found out by the feds too, so the group worked out how he could use his snitches and connections to get legitimate ones made for them, something he'd work on the next day.

When it got late, the group climbed down and went their separate ways, Pixie went back to her house with Tig, she hadn't heard from him all evening, even though she'd sent him a text to say she was with Jax and that she'd be fine, so he wouldn't worry about her whereabouts. Pixie switched off her bike's engine and walked up the path to the door, forcing the lock open with her key and flicked on the hall lights. The lights immediately illuminated a figure on the stairs and Pixie jumped in shock.

"Ah! Geez, Tig, you scared the crap out of me." Pixie said with relief, seeing Tig sat on the third step from the bottom, he'd had his head in his hands when she came in, he rubbed his face before looking up at her with tense, sad eyes. "You didn't have to wait up for me, did you not get my text?" Pixie asked as she took her bag and kutte off.

"I got it, but I wanted to wait anyways." Tig mumbled.

Pixie took a few steps closer to him. "I'm sorry for running off, I got too overwhelmed and my fight or flight instinct kicked in."

Tig nodded. "I'm sorry I yelled. I have a lot going on." He stood up and pulled Pixie to him. "I can't lose you." He said quietly, more to himself than to Pixie.

"I'm here." Pixie said looking up at him. "What's going on?"

"I've been thinking about what you said and it makes sense that it'd be the mistress, not Ope."

Pixie looked at him, eyes wide. "Yeah? What about Ope?"

"I think I want evidence that he's innocent, but I don't want to hurt him." Tig said with sincerity in his voice.

Pixie's heart stuttered with hope that things may be turning out better than she anticipated. "Do you really mean that?"

Tig nodded, looking at her in the eyes. "I do." He said truthfully. "I don't want to hurt a brother." Pixie analysed his face, she could always tell when Tig was lying, but there were no tells there this time, he really meant what he said.

"Okay, that I can work with." She nodded. "Will you talk to Clay?"

"Yeah, doll. I'm gonna do that tomorrow. Jax is right, you're like a little bullshit detector, and your hunches usually turn out to be true. So if you think he's not a rat, I'm willing to trust you on that, but that doesn't mean I think he's completely innocent, I can't take that risk, I have to protect everyone, that's my job."

Pixie smiled up at him as waves of relief washed over her face. "Thank you." She kissed him hard. "I'm gonna prove it, okay? Just don't do anything until I can."

Tig nodded. "Okay." He kissed her back as she melted into his arms. Having her back with him made Tig feel so much calmer, she was his safety and made him feel whole. He knew that if he killed Opie like Clay wanted, it would break Pixie's heart and could tear them apart for good. There had to be another way.

"Can we pretend this day from hell didn't exist and just have a good evening?" Pixie asked him.

"You read my mind doll, I wanna make things with us right again." Tig said, relief in his voice. "How 'bout we make dinner and go snuggle in bed, hm?"

"Spaghetti tacos?" Pixie suggested, knowing it would make Tig smile.

He chuckled. "I swear you have the diet of a five year old."

"Hey, you ate like four the last time I made those." Pixie reminded him with a giggle.

"I never said they weren't good." Tig said following her into the kitchen where he helped her gather ingredients. "Though my personal favourite is bacon mac 'n' cheese."

"What about that pizza we had last week?"  
"You mean the one we made but then you chickened out of eating coz' you didn't like the sauce?" Tig teased.

"It wasn't the sauce, it was the tomato lumps." Pixie pouted. "It looked good though."

"It tasted good too, how 'bout you prep the shells and the noodles, and I'll deal with the filling?" Tig suggested separating out items into two work spaces.

"Sure, it still weirds me out you call pasta 'noodles'."

Tig laughed. "Why? That's what they are."

"No, noodles are thin and squiggly and came from Asia."

"No, that's ramen."

"That's the name of the dish." Pixie giggled. "Spaghetti's from Italy, therefore it's pasta."

"You're so pedantic." Tig laughed.

☠️☠️☠️

After Pixie and Tig had their dinner and cleared everything up, they took a shower before getting in to bed, making out for a while until Tig turned out the light. They both settled, but neither Tig nor Pixie could sleep. Pixie lay with her head on Tig's shoulder, her left hand stroking his chest and the fine hairs that were there as he started up at the ceiling, his hand drawing shapes on her back.

"Tiggy?" Pixie whispered.

"Yeah, baby?" He responded, moving his head to the side so he could kiss her forehead.

"You think the club's gonna be okay?"

"I do, baby, we're gonna get through all this ATF shit, and we'll figure out where to go from there. This club's resilient."

"I think so too, but it still worries me, I don't know how to keep everyone afloat." Pixie said quietly, her mind drifting to Clay and Opie, she had no clue how to help, or how to save him if Clay decided to go through with the execution, but she knew she had to do something. She hoped that Tig's revelation would slow things down, but Clay was a loose cannon.

Tig's brow furrowed. "Hey, where's this comin' from? Darlin' you've been keeping this whole club together since you got here, we all support you too, and you're doing the best you can. Just being there to listen and give hugs is sometimes all we need."

Pixie nodded her head, snuggling a little tighter against Tig's chest, needing to feel protected. Tig sensed this and pulled her closer with his arm, kissing her forehead before he used his other hand to tip Pixie's head up so he could kiss her properly. "I'm here, angel, I'm gonna do everything I can to keep you safe, no matter what happens with the club. You will always have me, okay? _Nothin'_ is gonna change that." Tig said fiercely. "I love you."

"I love you too." Pixie kissed him, reaching up to stroke his face. "I hate how much we've been having tense arguments lately, they hurt."

Tig nodded, swiping his thumb along Pixie's cheek bone as he rolled onto his side so he could face her. "They hurt me too, I know a lot of them are me being standoffish and I hate doing that, it's just my nature."

Pixie nodded. "It doesn't help that I'm stubborn and impulsive too."

"I'm gonna try and make things right, angel." Tig murmured, kissing down Pixie's neck. "I want to make things better."

"Me too." Pixie whispered back, stroking Tig's curls as he kissed gently down her chest. Instead of the playful kisses Pixie was used to, these ones were soft and tender, each one soothing and like a little apology in itself. Pixie put her leg over Tig's hip, pulling him closer, needing to feel him close. She rubbed up and down his back as he moved to lay over her, kissing her torso whilst he propped himself up on his forearms. He growled in pleasure at the feeling of Pixie's hands rubbing his tense muscles and he responded by gently kneading her breasts, the action so tender and loving that it seemed more intimate than their usual romps under the sheets. Their hands softly wandered across each other's bodies like they were trying to reacquaint themselves with each other, seeing each other with all their walls down for the first time that week. They slowly moved against each other as they made love, the act so sensual and full of adoration as they released all the tension and made each other feel whole and complete. 

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ 


	81. Always Faithful

The next morning, a tense cloud seemed to have rolled in over Charming. Tig opened his eyes with the first rays of light, slightly startled by the nightmare he'd been having. For a brief second, he thought that the dream had been right, and that he was alone until he looked down to see a mop of black curly hair tucked against his shoulder and he smiled in relief.

"Hey." He whispered, stroking Pixie's bare shoulder.

"Hey." Pixie murmured back sleepily as she woke up, smiling up at him as he put his hand on the side of her face and neck to tip her head back so he could kiss her firmly, reaching with his other arm to weave his fingers through her hair.

"Whatever happens today, I'm never leaving you, and I'll always love you." Tig whispered, putting his forehead against Pixie's.

"I know, and I'm not going anywhere either, I love you forever and always." Pixie kissed him back, stroking his cheek. With the new day, came new hope for Pixie. She was determined to keep Opie safe and prove he was innocent, and she hoped that she could do it before Clay decided to take action. The conversation that she'd overheard still weighed heavily on her mind, and she couldn't believe Clay would even want to harm Opie, but she hoped that Tig might be able to talk some sense into him, or at least get him to hold fire. She didn't want it to come to where she had to take drastic measures, but she knew if it came to that, she'd do whatever it took to keep Opie alive. 

She got ready for the day with Tig, neither of them not wanting to be apart for long. Last night had wreaked havoc on both of their emotions and whilst they'd released everything last night, it still left them feeling raw. Pixie pulled on a black 'Jack Daniels' tank top, red studded shorts, and black and red hi-top trainers. She added a knuckle duster necklace and a red and black bracelet to her usual two that she wore every day, consisting of Tig's cuff and the silver skull friendship bracelet she'd put on with Juice.

It had been hilarious explaining to him why he woke up with a migraine, covered in cookie crumbs and in a blanket cocoon. Turns out sober Juice had also wanted a friendship bracelet, and he never took off the gold one on his wrist which blended in with his rings.

"You need a hair tie?" Tig asked as he came out of the bathroom, buttoning up his shirt.

"Please, the red scrunchie on the dresser will do." Pixie said as she wrangled her hair up into a ponytail with the hairbrush. "Thanks, handsome." Pixie smiled as he passed it to her, watching Pixie put it on.

"I will never understand how you do that." Tig chuckled.

"My hair and I have formed an uneasy alliance, as long as I look after it and let it go wild some days, it lets me tame it... for the most part." Pixie joked as she straightened out her top. Tig took in the outfit with hungry eyes.

"Badass and beautiful." Tig kissed her cheek before he put on his cuffs and followed her downstairs where Pixie made scrambled eggs. Tig made coffee for himself and a cup of tea for Pixie, he had made sure she stayed clear of too much caffeine after learning the hard way that coffee and Pixie don't mix. Tig sat down at the table, but Pixie didn't bring her plate over, instead taking a mouthful and pacing the kitchen, tidying up and stretching before going back and taking another bite and repeating the process. Tig had got used to this, Pixie was always a little more hyperactive in the mornings, and this was an especially prominent habit on days when she was anxious. When she'd had her plateful, Tig patted his lap.

"C'mere, you know you can't drink and do that without getting the hiccups."

Pixie nodded, putting the plates in the sink and bringing her mug over.

"What's happening today?" Pixie asked as she sat down, settling with her side against Tig's chest and her legs up against hers.

"We got a meeting with Laroy and the Niners at two-thirty." Tig said. "I'm gonna confirm that with them when we get in today."

"Well that's gonna be an interesting conversation if he recognises me." Pixie chuckled.

"Oh shit, I forgot all about your little Niners trip." Tig recalled. "It's just me and Clay sorting it, so you'll be safe."

"Hopefully they aren't mad about the Mayan alliance." Pixie said as she finished her mug of tea putting it in the sink before coming back and grabbing Tig's mug, finishing the last gulp of coffee before she put it in there too.

"Oi, I saw that lil' missus." Tig growled playfully, getting up from his chair and pulling Pixie back against him by her hips so he could lean down and kiss her neck, putting his arm across her chest so she was pinned.

"You saw nothin'." Pixie giggled as she tried to wriggle free.

☠️☠️☠️

When Tig and Pixie arrived, they spotted that Chibs, Juice, and Jax's bikes were parked up already, confused, Pixie checked her phone, but sure enough Tig and Pixie weren't late.

"You think they came early for somethin'?" Pixie asked as Tig took off his helmet.

"Nah." He got up and put his hand on Chibs' engine. "More like they never left, must've come back from the bar to continue celebrating.

"Oh great, now I know what I'm doing for the next hour." Pixie grumbled as she and Tig started walking towards the clubhouse. She opened the door and came to a halt in the entrance.

"Make that two hours." Tig corrected as he surveyed the chaos. Juice was in just his boxers (Pixie was very thankful that he still had those on) and was asleep on top of a brunette woman, Jax who was also in just a pair of boxers seemed to have gotten busy with blue-haired lady, as both were asleep on a couch, and Chibs was in a similar state of disarray, laying on his back with one booted foot over the back of the couch and a blonde lady asleep on his chest. He seemed to be the most dressed out of the three men, wearing his shirt, kutte, boxers and boots, just no jeans for some reason that Pixie _really_ did not want to think about. There were beer bottles, nutshells and litter all over the floor, along with spilt beer, and party streamers. Pixie had no clue where they'd acquired those, but somehow wasn't surprised.

"Want me to shift them?" Tig asked her, chuckling to himself as he thought about what a crazy night those three must have had.

"Nah, I got this." Pixie said, clearing her throat. " _YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS BEFORE I'M GETTIN' THE HOSE_!" Pixie hollered. The room suddenly burst to life as the three Sons went from being fast asleep to scrambling for any item of clothing and making a beeline for the dorms while the women ran around in a similar fashion.

Tig burst out laughing. "Well you guys are movin' awful fast."

"Well yeah, this is Pixie, she will actually follow through with that threat." Juice said hastily. "Hey, by the way." He said to Pixie as he pulled on his jeans.

"Hey, you have a hickey." Pixie said pointing to Juice's shoulder.

"Ew." Juice said. "Pretend you didn't see that." He put his hand over the bruise.

"Trust me I'm trying very hard to unsee." Pixie giggled. "Especially my dad gettin' busy with a blonde." Pixie scrunched her nose.

"Sorry, lass!" Chibs called as he disappeared into one of the dorms.

"S'okay!" Pixie chirped back. "I'm gonna stay outside until you're all not half-naked."

"Good plan." Jax nodded as he kissed her temple on the way past.

"You got hickeyed too Teller, on your back. I'd hide that unless you want an interrogation from Gem."

"Noted, thanks, Piglet." Jax said gratefully as Pixie came out of the clubhouse with Tig. She sat down on the picnic bench table.

"I'm gonna go make that call, you okay here, babe?" Tig asked, nuzzling Pixie's cheek.

Pixie squirmed and smiled. "Yeah, go do your thing." Pixie nodded, ushering him off. Tig walked a few steps away before he came running back and kissed her again, making Pixie laugh at his goofy behaviour. "Go, Tiggy." She giggled as he peppered her with little kisses.

"A'ight, a'ight, I'm going, you're just too cute." Tig fussed, giving her one last kiss to Pixie's forehead before he jogged off to the garage office. Pixie sent a text to Donna saying if she needed anything, Pixie was there for her, then put one out to Opie too to make sure he was okay. She heard the clubhouse door open and Chibs wandered out, lighting up a cigarette as he hopped onto the bench table next to Pixie. His hair was damp and he had a fresh set of clothes on, along with his sunglasses.

"You got a hangover?" Pixie asked him, smoothing his stubble down gently.

"Aye, I'll be fine, it's ye I'm worried abou'." Chibs took Pixie's hand and kissed her cheek. "You wanna tell me why Jackie boy found ye cryin' on the roof last night?"

"I just got overwhelmed by everything and needed to regroup." Pixie explained, telling him the same things she'd told the others. She thought about telling Chibs about Clay, but she just couldn't bring it to her lips.

"Why didn't ye come an' talk to us, lass?" Chibs said softly, under Pixie's tough and cheerful exterior, he could see she was battling with something inside.

"You guys were having fun, I didn't want to put a damper on the night." Pixie explained looking down. "That's why I went up to the roof, I still feel bad that Opie, Jax and Juice went looking instead of going to the bar, at least they got to celebrate afterwards though."

"Oi." Chibs said sharply. "We're havin' none 'o' tha'. This club loves ye, I love ye, more than anythin', and all of us want to keep you safe an' happy. So don't ye dare think yer spoilin' our fun when you need us."

"I love you too." Pixie smiled, reaching across for a hug from him. Chibs reciprocated before Pixie pulled back when Jax and Juice came out together followed by the groggy looking women who headed out to one of the cars parked in the lot to leave.

"You guys all done in there?" Pixie asked.

"Yup, I'll help out." Juice said coming over to kiss the top of Pixie's head and hug her good morning.

"I'm tapping out though, gonna go visit the hospital and check in with Wendy." Jax explained, coming over to do the same thing as Juice.

"Oooh, how's Abel?" Pixie asked him.

"I think he might be gettin' out real soon, I'm gonna talk to the docs." Jax said, looking excited.

"Congrats, Jackie boy." Chibs grinned.

"Thanks, see you guys later." Jax waved before striding off to his bike as Pixie jumped to her feet.

"Fancy coming to help clean up your mess?" Pixie asked Chibs.

"If I don't, am I gonna get hosed down?" Chibs joked.

"Potentially." Pixie responded with a giggle.

"Shite, I'm not takin' tha' risk." Chibs chuckled, hauling himself to his feet. The three of them went inside and began clearing everything away. It was times like this that Pixie really missed Half-Sack, when they worked together, they'd always joke with each other and rock out to whatever song was playing on the stereo and the time would just fly by. It's how they bonded with each other, and since he'd gone up to Alberta with Cherry, the clubhouse didn't feel the same without him. She missed Cherry too, they'd hung out whenever they could before she left and since she had, Pixie felt a little bereft, especially when she wanted to talk about girly things or sing duets with her. Pixie was grateful for having Juice and Chibs in her life though, they were always there to lend a hand and help around the clubhouse or with whatever Pixie needed to do. They were also there for her whenever she needed to talk or a distraction from the stresses that the outlaw life caused, and she was there for them in return, helping to keep them afloat. Pixie turned on the stereo system.

"Any requests?"

"Green Day?" Juice suggested as he went past her, sweeping the floor.

"Aye, I like them." Chibs agreed as he appeared from down the back of one of the sofas and tossed Juice something. "Found ye wallet. Ye need ta stop spendin' time behind tha' couch." Chibs chuckled.

"Is that something you do often?" Pixie asked puzzled as 'American Idiot' began to play.

"Apparently." Juice chuckled. "Not that I remember much after coming back to the clubhouse."

"When ye first arrived to Charmin', tha daftie was down there too." Chibs explained.

Pixie giggled. "That's such a weird habit."

"Hey." Juice pouted. "At least I don't have a tomato phobia." He grinned chuckling.

Pixie gave a squeak of surprise. "J! Who told you?!"

Juice doubled over laughing. "It's true?! Holy shit!"

"What?" Chibs said, looking thoroughly confused as Pixie hurdled the bar and went after Juice who sprinted away from her, still laughing as he put the pool table between Pixie and him.

"Lil' miss badass over here's scared of tomatoes, can't touch 'em."

"Leave me be, or I'll tell Chibbie about how you cried over a cookie."

"Hey! That was coz' I was high." Juice said indignantly.

"You still did it." Pixie giggled. "Estúpido bebé."

"You're so annoying." Juice laughed.

"You started it!" Pixie stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oi, both of ye muppets apologise and get cleanin'." Chibs barked lightheartedly. Pixie stepped back from the pool table and Juice came around it to walk up to her. "Truce?" He offered, putting his arms out for a hug. Pixie put her arms around his neck and as Juice was about to hug her, Pixie licked his cheek and jumped out of his grip giggling. 

"EW! Pixie!" Juice wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. "Okay that's it." He growled, lunging for Pixie, he caught her, lifted her up and then threw her down onto one of the couches before jumping on smacked her with a pillow playfully. Pixie was giggling and hiccuping as she tried to fight him off.

"Okay, okay! Truce! I'm sorry!" Pixie squealed. Juice stopped and started laughing with her.

"Feel better?" Juice asked pulling Pixie up to sit.

"Yeah." Pixie grinned. "That was fun."

☠️☠️☠️

Whilst the trio cleared up the clubhouse, Tig came out of the garage office once he got off the phone doing all the liaison jobs Bobby usually did, he wandered out onto the lot, spotting Clay as he pulled up on his bike.

"Meeting's all set. Oakland. Two-thirty." Tig said as he neared.

Clay nodded, taking a puff of his cigarette. "Good." There was a tense pause as Tig shuffled, putting his hand on Clay's handlebars and then returned them to his belt buckle. "Opie's wired. There's no way in hell we're gonna be able to separate him from everybody. Everything we're doing, we gotta protect our guys." Tig nodded, shuffling his boot. "Gotta happen today." Clay finished, eyeing his friend's nervous energy.

"I-uh. I got to thinkin' last night." Tig stumbled over his words, he never did well speaking under pressure. "What would happen if we, y'know, waited for -er-, evidence or some shit."

Clay raised an eyebrow and took off his sunglasses. "We have evidence, brother. The bugs you found didn't just crawl in by themselves. Opie's crossed sides, if we wanna protect this club, we have to act today."

"What about the witness?"

"The witness is Opie." Clay growled. "You're soundin' an awful lot like Pixie."

"She makes sense." Tig defended.

"She's turning you soft." Clay accused.

"Hey. It's not like that." Tig growled back.

"Oh yeah? Then what's it like? Coz' right now, all I'm seeing is a brother being turned by pussy, right when I need him the most." Clay stood up, squaring up to Tig. Tig backed off, but his eyes were deadly.

"Don't talk about her like that." He snarled.

"Or what? You gonna hit me again? Gonna tell me what I can and cannot do? Do I need to remind you of your rank, your _place_ , Trager? You work for me, not her. Your loyalty is to this club and to me _first._ " Clay hissed, accentuating his point by jabbing his thumb against his chest.

Tig hated fighting with Clay, and it scared him more than he'd like to admit. "I know it is, I swore in, and I swore to protect this club, but-"

"But. Nothing. This club needs you to protect it, now more than ever. Are we clear?"

"Yes." Tig nodded, looking away, a fierce scowl on his face.

"Are you gonna do your job?" Clay said slowly, like he was talking to an idiot.

Tig inhaled and exhaled. He felt boxed into a corner, if he didn't go through with what Clay ordered, by rights he would be defying the club and the president, and the act itself could cause serious repercussions, it could cost him his patches and his place with the Sons. But if he did go through with the killing, and Pixie found out... he'd lose the only person he'd ever truly loved. She was everything to him, but so was the club. Clay put doubt in his mind about whether Pixie was right about the witness, it was all getting too much. He couldn't take the risk of defying Clay. "Yeah, I am." He nodded, the act making him feel defeated.

"Good on you, brother." Clay grasped the back of his neck and put his forehead against Tig's. "You're the one I trust the most, I'm countin' on you." Clay said softly. He patted Tig's cheek then got back on his bike and put his sunglasses on. "I'm headin' down to the station, I gotta talk to a certain bitch." Clay told him. "When the guys get here, tell 'em we're having church when I get back."

"Will do." Tig grunted. Clay dropped his cigarette on the floor, started up the engine and rode off, leaving Tig standing, staring at the spot Clay's bike had been occupying.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ 


	82. Recon Team

Pixie wandered up the lot to the garage looking for Tig, finding him with his shirt off punching the punching bag so hard it was swinging like a pendulum. Pixie bit her lip, watching him, seeing how riled up he was and it worried her deeply.

"Tiggy, honey?" Pixie said gently as she approached. "Everyone's back at the clubhouse."

"Shit, I was supposed to call a meet for Clay."

"He's not here, but he is on his way, that's why I came up here." Pixie explained, grabbing a towel from the storage box and wiping Tig's chest. "You don't usually get like this unless somethin's bothering you."

"I'm fine, baby." Tig tried to assure her, taking off his boxing glove with his teeth.

Pixie put her head to one side. "No you're not. I can always tell when you lie."

"How?"

"That's for me to know only, last thing I want is for you to figure it out." Pixie smiled, kissing Tig's chest. "Now tell me what's up, tough guy."

"Later, we need to get everyone ready for church." Tig deflected.

"Tiggy-"

" _Later_." Tig grunted, moving past Pixie to grab his shirt. Pixie moved in front of him, eyes sparkling with worry.

"Please." She whispered desperately, whatever it was was something big and something bad for Tig to shut her out.

Tig's heart broke at the panic and concern on Pixie's face. "I promise I'll tell you, but I just can't right now, I need you to be okay with that."

Pixie nodded. "If you're sure, I'm always here for you, Tiggy, no matter what, okay?"

Tig smiled as he buttoned up his shirt. "I know, you're the best thing in my life, babe." He kissed her hard. "And I got you too, no matter what, I'm here."

Pixie kissed him before passing his rings over from the bench, watching as Tig put them on before he grabbed her hand and they walked back down to the clubhouse together. As soon as Pixie came through the doors, Jax bounded up to her.

"Guess what?" He grinned.

"You figured out that belts are supposed to keep your jeans on above your hips?" Pixie quipped, making the other's chuckle.

"No, brat. Abel's comin' home this evenin'." He grinned.

Pixie let out a yip of joy and jumped at Jax. "That's amazing!" She hugged him tight as the others let out cheers of congratulations too and came to pat him on the back.

"I'm really hyped, Gemma's back at my place setting up all the decorations and shit, we're gonna have a welcome home party for the little guy, that way everyone can meet him finally." Jax explained happily.

"That's gonna be so fun!" Pixie smiled. "Have you invited Happy?"

"You think he'd wanna come?"

"It's worth an ask, he is family after all."

Jax nodded. "How 'bout you ask him after Church?"

"Sure, Jackie, I'll ask Hap to come to _your_ party." Pixie giggled. "Now I know why Bobby was always on the phone. I wish he could be here too." Pixie said sadly. "Clubhouse isn't the same without him."

"I know what ye mean." Chibs nodded, putting his arm around her. "We'll get him back soon as we can."

"I know, I just hope he's okay in there."

"Hey, Muson's tough as shit, he'll be okay, baby." Tig soothed, outside the sound of a motorcycle gunning into the lot broke through the hubbub of the room. "Right, Church, Clay's orders." Tig announced. Pixie weaved through everyone and grabbed the phone box and opened the church doors so the men could start filing in. when Opie passed he just patted her shoulder.

"My phone drowned in someone's beer." He grunted.

"So that's why you didn't answer." Pixie said in relief. "Ask J for a burner, or else I'm gonna start stalking ya'." Pixie joked.

Opie chuckled. "Will do, you worry too much." He went to his place and Pixie bit her lip. The phone in the beer had to be Tig's doing when he'd gone looking for the wires, and he probably couldn't figure out how to get the back off. As the others went past her, Tig disappeared into one of the dorms to find deodorant and then came out with a small silver device with a series of green lights and an aerial.

Pixie looked at him in disbelief. "You gotta be kidding me." She said as she realised what it was, Juice had showed it to her a couple months back, it was a way to find bugs and probably explained how he found the ones on Opie.

Tig huffed. "Just doing my job, doesn't say anything about where I stand on Ope. We just gotta make sure we're safe."

Pixie nodded. "Okay, just make that clear with Ope, yeah?"

Tig scanned the phones and then kissed her cheek. "Yeah, don't worry." He shut the box when the scanner didn't light up and ushered Pixie inside before taking his seat at the table and Pixie took Bobby's spot next to Juice and Jax.

"We're good." Tig said to the table. Opie eyed the device with a look of resignation and frustration, but said nothing.

"Our retainer with Rosen is good for one more week." Clay said gravely. "If this thing with Bobby goes to trial, we're gonna have to pony up some serious up-front cash."

The Sons shuffled anxiously at the mention of the money troubles. Juice had his forearms on the table with his chin resting on his hands, he sat up a little and looked at Clay. "We have every dime in the warehouse rebuild."

"I got an emergency bank account with about a hundred thousand, H and Cherry have only used about five hundred dollars of that, so if needed, the rest can be put towards that." Pixie put forward. The others turned to look at her in surprise. "What? I was hustling with Piney and Bobby like every week until shit hit the fan, where do you think all that money was going?"

"Hang onto it as backup." Clay said dismissively. "I spoke to Alvarez. The Mayans want guns. They want them right away."

We ain't got nothin' to sell." Jax said, brow furrowed. "Irish don't start shipping until next month."

"We pull our security surplus. We sell 'em those." Clay declared. Pixie's eyes widened, as did the rest of the tables. She decided she needed to invest in a red flag to wave any time Clay got an idea.

"Wait a minute." Chibs was the first to recover, leaning forward with his eyes narrowed. "I thought we _didn't_ sell tha' surplus."

"We don't." Jax nodded.  
"We sell 'em those guns. It's a goodwill gesture." Clay said with finality in his voice. "The Mayans turn around, place a big order, they give us half the cash in advance."

"And then what? We're supposed to just hang around like fish in a barrel waiting to be gunned down? What happens if we inevitably get into trouble, we're just gonna fight them off with spitballs?" Pixie spoke up, looking incredulously at Clay.

"Exactly." Jax added. "It leaves us with nothin' to protect the club."

"Well, I'm out of ideas here Jax." Clay said exasperatedly like Jax was the one talkin' crazy. "If we don't jump on this deal, we lose it." Clay growled. "I'm just tryna help Bobby here."

"I get that. But ATF are still camped out in Unser's office, you really wanna take that risk?" Jax said, calmly but firmly. Pixie felt proud of how he was handling the situation, he'd grown a lot over the last couple of months.

"We can do this smart." Clay insisted stubbornly. _Clay, however, has not grown emotionally or mentally since he was a toddler._ Pixie thought to herself. She gave a small smile to Tig who was leaning back in his chair, concern on his face. "We set up two locations in Oakland, right? We pick up the money from one, we drop off the guns at the other. This way, even if the feds are watching us, they never see guns for money."

"They will if they follow us." Pixie said quietly.

"Why would the feds still be trailin' us?" Opie asked, hearing Pixie.

"Maybe they're pissed off coz' you didn't turn." Clay grunted.

" _Or_ maybe it's because they got one of us in jail and they have Stahl trying to pin anything on us, she's desperate enough to try that." Pixie explained.

"It'll work." Clay growled, staring Pixie down before he looked over to Opie again. "You and Tig'll pick up the money, me and Jax drop off the guns."

"I'll go with Ope and Tig." Piney spoke up.

"Nah, nah, nah. The fewer the better." Clay told him. Piney looked at him in annoyance and disbelief.

"Okay, did someone slip you something, because you have to be out of your goddamn mind." Pixie spoke up, having heard enough. "Clay, those Mayan bastards tried to put a bullet in you and you barely escaped with your head. You're telling us that you trust them to the point you're willing to waltz in there with just you and Jax, the two highest ranking Sons, completely unguarded whilst Tig and Ope, the only other people out there who can help protect you, are halfway across the freaking town?"

"This ain't gonna be a hostile situation." Clay snarled.

"They were our sworn enemies like a month ago! You telling me we _shouldn't_ be prepped for a worst case scenario?" Pixie asked him, appalled by what she was hearing.

"I've been doing this goddamn rodeo since before you were even born! Don't question my judgement!" Clay yelled.

Pixie gritted her teeth and shook her head, trying to stay in control.

"I've been doing this just as long as you have, Clay." Piney spoke up, defending Pixie. "And I'm questioning just as much as she is."

"Look, if you guys are desperate to do some shit, go up to the warehouse and check on that, let me know how it's going."

"I'm not doing some bullshit errand." Piney growled, but Pixie grabbed his hand, an idea forming.

"Hey, it's useful, 'specially since Bobby's not here to do it." Pixie looked him in the eyes and gave him a small wink and a smile which the others didn't catch. Piney realised Pixie was up to something and nodded.

"Okay, darlin', if that's what you think's best." Piney patted her hand and then leant back in his chair.

Clay raised an eyebrow. "...So we all settled then?"

"Are ye sure ye've thought this through?" Chibs asked him.

"Yeah. I have." Clay growled. "We're doing this."

Seeing no room to object, the others nodded and church was dismissed. Pixie slipped past the guys and into her room, followed by Piney who shut the door and locked it.

"What're we up to, love?" he asked, watching as Pixie started hunting around the room for something.

"We're going on a different kind of errand. I wanna find any info on Hefner's side-bird, see if we can confirm she was the witness."

Piney nodded. "And we doin' that?"

Pixie found her camera triumphantly. "We're gonna ask the right people. Take your kutte off." Pixie tossed him a baseball cap and then pulled a few items of clothing from her wardrobe and disappeared into the bathroom. Piney smiled to himself at the prospect of going on a crazy adventure with Pixie again. She appeared wearing a smart light pink dress, black leather jacket, black leggings and a pair of smart black heels. 

She put the camera in her backpack along with one of her guns and her purse. "Hopefully this is professional looking enough. How well do you know Oakland?"

"Pretty well, why?"

"Juice told me where the mistress was living, but I'm not familiar with the area."

Piney grinned. "Tell me and I'll get us there. We takin' the van?"

"Yup. Looks official enough, grab two clipboards from the office." Pixie nodded.

Piney left and Pixie followed along behind but got stopped by Tig.

"What's with the wardrobe change?"

"Got stuff to do." Pixie answered, kissing his cheek. "I'll be safe."

"If this is coz' of what went down in church-."  
"Hey, I've thought this through, okay? I'm going on an intel run, I'll be back before you leave for the bullshit Mayan thing Clay's insisting on."

"Phrasing, missus." Tig warned.

"Sorry." Pixie hugged him. "I'm just stressed, I feel like he's just jumping without thinking."

Tig nodded. "I know. I think it'll hook up though."

"I hope so." Pixie stroked the side of his face, there was a honk outside and she smiled. "Ride's here, love you." She kissed him before running out and jumping into the van where Piney had pushed the passenger door open for her. Pixie told him the address and the two drove off discussing the plan.

☠️☠️☠️

They parked up and Piney pulled the cap lower so it was harder to see his eyes and took his oxygen tank off before following Pixie up the steps to where there was remnants of police tape still stuck to the railings on the second floor of apartments.

"Looks like this was where it happened." Pixie murmured as they investigated the area that had once been cordoned off, she looked at the different door numbers, tracking the one down for Hefner's mistress. As she approached the door, an elderly lady stuck her head out of a window three doors down.

"She ain't here." The woman called over to them. Pixie and Piney turned to her, coming closer.

"Hi, I'm Lois Lane, with the Oakland Tribune, I was wondering if I could talk to someone about the tragic shooting of Brenan Hefner and how it affected this community?" Pixie said politely but confidently. Piney bit his tongue trying not to smile at the reference, hoping to god this old dame wasn't a comic book reader.

"I don't wanna talk to no pokey news people." The old woman huffed. She was about to close the window when Pixie pulled out her wallet.

"I got fifty bucks for your time?" Pixie offered.

"Oh, well in that case." The woman smiled, unlocking her front door. Pixie handed twenty five over. "Half now for cooperating and half at the end of the interview?"

"Deal." The woman smiled, showing all of four teeth. She looked like an extra from Golden Girls, wearing a green nineteen-forties style dress with yellow flowers, there was a string of fake pearls around her neck and her black hair had been corralled into a hair-sprayed updo. "Do you mind if my security guard sits in? Company policy and all that jazz." Pixie explained with a smile.

"Oh not at all." The woman shrugged.

"Thank you ma'am." Piney smiled, leaning against the door as Pixie sat down with the woman on her purple couch. Pixie sat the clipboard on her lap and then rooted inside her bag, turning her camera on in the process and hitting record without the woman seeing.

"Please, call me Delilah." The woman smiled at him. "Delilah Matthews."

"Okay, so what can you tell me about that day, Delilah?" Pixie asked gently. "It must be so hard to talk about, so take as long as you need." Pixie assured her, patting the woman's hand.

"Well, the building all knew who Brenan Hefner was, so we all kept to ourselves when he was around, last thing we wanted was to cause any hassle for Shenita."

"Shenita?" Pixie queried.

"Shenita Daniels, the poor girl who got involved with him." Delilah clarified. "She knew he was married, but the poor child lived in hope that he'd help her out of her troubles and they'd live together eventually. We all knew that was a bunch of hooey, but Shenita was such a sweet girl, none of us wanted to say anything." Delilah reminisced. "She's staying with relatives now, hasn't been back since they took Eviqua, poor thing was just too traumatised to be around here, and without Eviqua's support, I guess she felt alone."

"Who's Eviqua?" Pixie asked, noting things down.

"Eviqua Michaels, she lived next door to Shenita, number twenty-four." Delilah informed them. "She was Shenita's best friend, they were around the same age, and poor Eviqua saw the whole thing from her door. She usually went over to Shenita's place after Mr Hefner had visited to check in with her, and she told me that as she was about to open her door, she saw some men, one of which shot him. I can't remember much of what she told me, my minds fuzzy for details these days." Delila said sadly.

Pixie nodded in sympathy. "I completely understand. Where is Eviqua now?"

"Some people in suits took her a few days ago, she told me it was for her protection or something, and not to worry." Delilah recalled.

"Oh wow, she must be really shaken up by it all." Pixie tutted. She paused for a second and fake-sneezed. "I'm so sorry, my allergies are acting up a little today, would you be able to get me a tissue?"

Delilah smiled and got up. "Sure, dear, my cousin Harvey was terrible with his hay fever." she informed them before going into the back room. Pixie turned to Piney.

"Go check twenty-four, see if you can find any info on Eviqua Michaels." Pixie whispered. Piney stood up and patted her shoulder as Delilah came back into the room with a tissue box. Pixie pretended to wipe her nose.

"My security guard's just going to do a patrol check outside whilst I finish up here." Pixie explained.

"Oh you'd better check your car, there's some tyre-stealing youths around here." Deliah tutted, sitting down again.

"Thank you for that, I'll check it out now." Piney nodded, slipping out the door.

Pixie continued to ask the woman questions and get as much info as she could whilst Piney trudged back along the walkway to number twenty-four, he checked nobody was watching before slipping on latex gloves and trying the door handle, finding it locked. Piney swore under his breath and looked for a key, his search coming up empty. He looked around again before taking a step back and then kicking the door as hard as he could. It burst open with a loud clatter and Piney threw himself inside in a panic, he'd forgotten how loud knocking down doors was and hoped that Pixie and Delilah hadn't heard anything. Inside, he started looking round for any kind of clue as to who this girl was or where ATF might have taken her to. When he opened the wardrobe, he looked at the clothes and realised they were a similar size and style to Pixie, but they yielded no clues so he went to the kitchen and then the bathroom, looking for anywhere where paperwork might be stored. As he came to a halt outside the refrigerator after his second sweep of the apartment, he looked over at the three Captain Crunch cereal boxes standing on top of it. _Wow, this chick must really like cereal,_ Piney thought to himself, his eyes rested on the sell-by dates and he realised that two were in-date, but one was at least three years old. Confused by it, Piney grabbed the box on the end, finding it heavier than it should have been for cereal. He put it on the small green kitchen table and opened the tabs, finding documents and a zip-lock bag of money marked 'savings'. _Bingo!_ Piney mentally cheered, sifting through the paperwork before finding a print out of an employee profile for the girl from the fast food chain she worked at. It had her address, date of birth and emergency contacts. Piney swiped it, folding it up into his back pocket, hoping it would be what Pixie had been looking for and returned the documents to their box and popped it back on the shelf. He slipped out the door just as Pixie came out of Delilah's flat.

"We good?" Piney greeted, removing the gloves.

"Yeah, Delilah had a lot of info. You?"

"Eviqua's a seventeen year old girl who works at 'Chick-fil-A'. I got her date of birth, and an ATF business card that was on her nightstand. Some clothes have been taken, but not all, no toothbrush in the bathroom."

"You think she's gone WitPro?" Pixie asked him as they went down the stairs quickly.

"Yeah, couldn't find where though."

"We'll leave that to Juice, he's the tech-boy. Good job hunting though, Pines." Pixie smiled, giving him a hi-five."

"Thanks, that was fun." Piney grinned as they got into the van. "Didn't leave any prints."

"Except your boot print on the door." Pixie answered by putting on her belt. "Remind me to teach you how to pick a lock."

Piney chuckled. "Who needs a key when you got a size thirteen boot."

☠️☠️☠️

As they neared Charming, Pixie got a text from Gemma asking her to pick up the cake for Abel from the bakery, Pixie agreed and Piney drove them there before they headed over to Jax's place and the pair of them walked up the path with Piney carrying the large traybake. Just as Pixie was about to ring the bell, a blonde haired woman suddenly threw the door open and smacked straight into Pixie, knocking her over.

"Oh shoot! I am so sorry!" The woman gushed, grabbing Pixie's arm to help her up.

"Least it wasn't Piney or he'd be covered in frosting." Pixie smiled.

"True." The woman smiled in relief, seeing Pixie was okay and friendly. "I'm Wendy."

"Oh! It's lovely to meet you, I'm Pixie."

"Oh, I've heard about you from Gem and Jax."

"Same." Pixie smiled.

"Don't worry, all good things." Wendy assured her.

"Me too." Pixie smiled.

"Ha, I'm not sure what nice things Gemma could possibly say about me." Wendy's smile faltered and she readjusted her bag on her shoulder.

"She causing you trouble?"  
"Since the day I met Jax." Wendy said sadly.

"Ah, you're not alone on that, the first time I met Gem, she slapped me."

Wendy laughed in shock. "Oh! Well that makes me feel better."

"Is she meddling with you?" Pixie asked. "It's okay, you can talk to me." Pixie looked over to Piney.

"I'll -er-, take this inside." Piney nodded, realising the girls needed privacy. Pixie took Wendy's hand and pulled her to sit down on the step, which she did.

"You're the first friendly face, apart from Jax, that I've seen since I got here." Wendy told her.

"I'm not gonna lie, I know about your history, Jax tells me a lot."

Wendy nodded. "I thought as much, Jax gushes about you."

"Really?" Pixie grinned.

"Oh yeah! When he's not talking about Abel, all I've heard since talking to him last night was 'Pixie's really sweet', 'Pixie's a badass, she can do ninja stuff'." Wendy did a gruff impersonation of Jax's voice and Pixie giggled hard.

"He's a real softie under all that bravado." She mused.

"Oh he is." Wendy nodded. "Shame I messed everything up."

"Hey." Pixie's brow furrowed and she patted Wendy's hand. "Don't do that to yourself. Yeah, things got real bad, and horrible mistakes were made, but you're making things right now, and you're working to make things better, that's a huge achievement in itself." Pixie told her. "Sometimes relationships turn toxic, and that's what happened to you and Jax, all you can do is learn from it, move forward and support each other and Abel."

Wendy nodded. "Thanks, I can see why Jax is friends with you."

"I can see why he's friends with you too." Pixie smiled.

"Can I ask you something?" Wendy asked.

"Anything, hun."

"Has Jax every, talked about me, like romantically speaking." Wendy asked. "Wow I sound like a child asking about their crush." She laughed.

"It's okay, and to be honest, no, he talks about you as a friend when he does bring you up." Pixie explained. "And I don't think it'd be wise to pursue anything romantically with him either."

"Why? Coz' I'm a druggie bitch?" Wendy said bitterly, looking at the floor. Pixie tugged her hand so she'd look up again.

"Hey, don't do that to yourself. I'm saying 'no' to the relationship because I'm worried for your safety more than anything." Pixie urged. "You're a beautiful, strong and brave woman who's been through hell and survived. If you come back to this life, you're just coming back to what drove you to the brink in the first place, and you don't deserve that, Wendy. You need to get out of all the old places and memories and start making new and better ones." Pixie told her. "I know you miss Jax and want to make things right, but you owe it to yourself, and to Abel not to repeat past mistakes, you deserve better. They deserve better."

Wendy looked at Pixie in astonishment before she suddenly reached across and hugged her. "I'm sorry, it's just you're the first person who's actually been so kind to me and wants to actually help me."

"I really do, Wendy. Are you staying at this house?"

"Yeah." Wendy said guiltily. "Just until I can get into the sober living house."

"Why're you doing that to yourself?" Pixie said with concern. "Please, for me, go book into a motel, somewhere neutral, the longer you stay in places where you have bad memories, the more likely you are to relapse." Pixie explained.

"I know, I know." Wendy frowned. "How come you know so much about all this?"

"I have a close friend who's a recovering addict, and I've helped a couple of others in my time." Pixie explained. "How about you go pack your bags and Piney and I will take you across to the hotel in Charming? We can pick you up for the baby party too."

"You'd do that?"

"Sure! In fact, the stay's on me." Pixie stood up, pulling Wendy up with her.

"No, I couldn't do that to you." Wendy blushed.

"Hey, you're doing me and Abel a favour if you go stay up there, he needs a stable mum in his life, especially when everything else is so chaotic."

Wendy nodded. "You're right, are you okay to wait for like five minutes?"

"Sure, I'll go speak to Gem whilst you get ready." Pixie assured her. The two women walked in together to find Piney helping Gemma put up a banner and streamers. When Wendy went into the back bedroom, Pixie turned to Gemma.

"Gem." Pixie said slowly.

"Uh oh, what did I do?" Gemma joked.

"Have you been meddling with Wendy?"

"No, I just..." Gemma trailed off when Pixie put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow.

"Kitchen. _Now_."

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ 


	83. Hard Times

Pixie walked back into the clubhouse with Piney in tow. Clay got up from the bar and turned to them.

"Where the hell have you two been?"

"Recon. The witness' name is Eviqua Michael's she's a seventeen year old girl, lives by herself, saw the whole shooting from her front door." Pixie announced, she tossed her camera to Juice. "I recorded the audio from inside my bag, so it may be rough, but I spoke to one of the other neighbours, a sweet old lady named Delilah who gave me the info as proof."

"I broke into the apartment, got her picture, date of birth and an ATF business card." Piney put in. "All we need to do now is find where they're housing her and have a little chat."

The other Sons looked at them in stunned silence. "Wow, well okay." Jax said, impressed. "Least we got that sorted, good work."

"Also, here's Wendy's room number, she's staying out in the Charming hotel until she can get into the Sober Living House to stop your mum meddling, her relapsing and you gettin' any ideas about trying to woo her."

The others laughed. "Hey, I wasn't gonna try that." Jax said indignantly.

"No, apparently you're all for blue haired birds instead." Pixie joked, ducking as Jax threw a pillow at her. "I'm gonna go get changed into my casual clothes and then what needs doing?"

"You can help Ope and Jax sort the guns." Clay ordered.

Pixie nodded and sauntered off, Tig got up and went after her closing the door once they were inside her room.

"Proud of you, baby." Tig smiled, kissing her. "You did real good."

"Thanks, I'm always proud of you." Pixie kissed him back.

"Where'd this little pink dress come from and why haven't I seen it before?" Tig kissed her neck and shoulder hungrily as Pixie took off her jacket.

"Because," Pixie let out a giggle as Tig's moustache tickled her shoulder, "I can't exactly ride my bike or do garage work in a dress now can I?" She smiled as Tig ran his hands down her sides.

"Hm, I got somethin' else you could ride in it." Tig growled, making Pixie giggle.  
"We have shit to do, mister." Pixie put her hands over Tig's as they found the hem of her dress and started lifting upwards.

"I know, I just need to feel you close." Tig murmured, surprising Pixie.

She turned around in his arms. "What's gotten you spooked?" Pixie asked him, concern on her face.

"I need you to promise me somethin'." Tig put his hands on either side of Pixie's face so he could look into her eyes.

"Anything, Tiggy."

"Promise me you won't try to follow us to Oakland, Clay, Ope, Jax and I can handle it, okay? And that includes asking anyone else to go up too."

"Why? Is somethin' gonna happen?" Pixie looked at him worried as he stroked his thumbs along her cheekbones.

"I dunno, I just don't want you up there, you need to stay out here, keep things ticking over, okay?"

Pixie bit her lip, worry on her face as Tig drew her in close, kissing her hard as Pixie weaved her hands through his hair. "Okay, I promise and I trust you, just please come home, I can't lose anyone." Pixie said softly when Tig pulled back to put his forehead against hers.

"I promise, we'll come back." Tig nodded, scooping Pixie up in his arms.

"Good." Pixie nodded. "What would make you feel better?" She asked him, gently booping his nose.

He gestured with his head to the bathroom and grinned. "You wanna?"

Pixie giggled and blushed. "Really?"

"Yeah." Tig kissed her neck. "Told you that dress was doing it for me."

"I need to sort the guns." Pixie stroked his face.

"We'll be quick." Tig kissed her shoulder. "And thorough." He growled, giving Pixie butterflies.

"I like the sound of that." Pixie giggled as Tig suddenly tightened his grip on her hips and lifted, putting her over his shoulder and striding to the bathroom, making Pixie squeal as he laughed with her.

☠️☠️☠️

After their impromptu rendezvous, Pixie freshened up, changed quickly and helped Juice do an inventory check before going into Jax's dorm room to help him and Opie pack up the guns. Jax was in a state of deep brooding, silently sorting the rifles and passing them to Ope and Pixie so they could put them into the bags.

"Well this is a depressing factory line." Pixie said after another minute of silence.

"Sorry, not feeling chipper." Jax grunted.

"You think this is a bad idea." Opie nodded, watching as Pixie went to the CD player and started fiddling with it, not being able to take the heavy silence. "Iron Maiden." He told her. Pixie gave him a thumbs up and put one of the CDs in before pressing play and coming back.

"Yeah I do." Jax said watching the pair of them interact.

"Clay made a deal with the Mayans to make sure the war didn't reach Charming."  
"It's bigger than that now." Jax said ominously. Opie raised an eyebrow at Pixie who shrugged, both of them turning to look at their brother.

"What?" Opie asked.

"Let's just get this done." Jax huffed, taking the last of the guns off of the wall.

"Jackie?" Pixie asked with fresh concern.

Opie didn't like Jax's response either, he put the gun he was holding down and brought himself up to his impressive full height. "Hey, man. If you think I'm walkin' into somethin'..." He trailed off, trying to read Jax's facial expression as he got off the chair he'd been standing on and sat down in it defeatedly. Pixie hopped up onto the bed next to him, trying to work out where Jax's head was at.

"Look at the last half-year, man. The warehouse gets blown up, Mayans tried to kill Clay, Bobby's in jail, we got ATF tryin' to stick RICO up our asses, how much longer do you think this club's got?"

"Hey, don't talk like that, Jackie." Pixie patted his knee as Opie sat down next to her. "Listen, all this shit, it's a lot to deal with, but it's temporary, we will hit the other side when things start hooking up, I know it." Pixie urged. "We just gotta stick together and keep things moving forward." She put one hand in Jax's and her other in Opie's, knowing he needed reassurance too.

"I know, it's just... we're better than this, man." Jax stared down at Pixie's red and black hi-tops, trying to think. "My old man? He saw the nightmare comin', he was smart, you guys, way smarter than me. He had ideas about where to take the club, you know? Legitimate ways to earn. He _knew_. Samcro's got to change to survive."

"My club earned straight for the most part, we had a paintball shack, boxing, garage, we got by just fine. Only outlaw shit was our medical supply business, and stealing car parts off the rich to sell to the needy." Pixie mused. "We only went down when that bastard Jimmy came to visit. Those guns were the end of us, I don't want it to be the end of this family either."

"I know, darlin', question is, how?" Jax nodded, giving Pixie's hand a squeeze.

"Clay'll never walk away from runnin' guns." Opie spoke up.

"Yup, they keep him seeing green, so he's gonna milk that cash cow until the bitter end." Pixie sighed.

"I know." Jax said getting up and pulling Pixie to her feet to continue doing their job at hand. "He's made that very clear." Jax said in frustration, Pixie had heard the aftermaths of Jax trying to talk Clay out of the guns, Jax always came away fuming and frustrated to the point they usually ended up riding out into the middle of nowhere together, or to the junk yard where Jax would swing the bat down on cars like there was not tomorrow.

"Well," Opie thought aloud, "a few more years, he won't be able to turn the throttle and you'll be number one."

"That's true, though with his arthritis, it could be a lot sooner, especially if he keeps insisting on punching things." Pixie added. The other two looked at her in question. "My old man, Bruce, before he died, had early symptoms, that's partly why I got put as VP, he was making sure that if it progressed quicker, he had a plan in place for when he couldn't ride anymore. The stiffness, the shakes, the pain when he punches, the struggle to uncurl his fingers after a ride, they're all symptoms."

"Geez." Jax said thinking about it, the last time he's seen Clay punch anything was his fight with Pixie, Clay had definitely been in as much pain punching her, as Pixie had been receiving the blows. "Well, even so, Bobby and Tig, pushing them in a new direction? _Jesus Christ_ , two immovable objects." Jax grunted as he zipped up one bag with Pixie's help.

"You make them sound like cement roadblocks." She giggled, making Jax and Opie smile a little.

"Irresistible force. It could happen." Ope said hopefully.

"I'm with Ope, I'm pretty sure if we talked it through with both when the time came, they'd be willing to turn in a new direction, and if we got Chibs on board, they'd surely follow." Pixie added.

There were quick steps up the hallway and Juice appeared in the door frame. "Hey Ope, Donna's here." He said gesturing back to the main clubhouse area.

"Thanks." Opie said, Juice nodded, grinned at Pixie and then went back to his computer. He'd been enhancing and analysing the recording of Delilah and Pixie, trying to get the audio clear enough to use as proof that Opie was not the witness.

Jax gathered the bag straps and looked over at Ope. "Probably best not to greet her with two bags of guns." Jax said to him.

Ope chuckled. "Yeah." He smiled before striding out as Jax piled the gun bags together on the floor. 

"You still grumpy?" Pixie asked Jax.

"I'm not grumpy." Jax grunted, gently pushing her as he took his gloves off, Pixie doing the same.

"That sounds like something a grumpy person would say." Pixie joked, nudging him. "Talk to me, Teller."

Jax sighed and sat down on the bed. "You seriously think we can find a way out of all this, earn straight?"

Pixie nodded, tucking some of his blonde hair behind his ear as she sat down next to him. "I do, bud. The road's gonna be long and hard, but we'll get there. My club did it, so I know it can be done, we just gotta keep our eyes on Clay."

"You trust him?"

"With some things, yeah, with others... not so much." Pixie said ominously. "You?"

"Yeah." Jax rubbed his face, not elaborating. "I'm glad you found that intel on the witness, hopefully that'll convince Clay, he's not wanting to look at any of it though, Piney tried earlier. I'm thinkin' we try again after we do this Mayan shit.

Pixie nodded. "Keep an eye on Clay today, Tig's nervous."

Jax raised an eyebrow. "Will do."

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie saw off Tig, Jax, Ope and Clay before wandering back inside, chewing her bottom lip and fiddling with the hem of her Jack Daniel's tank top. She sauntered into the main room and found Juice on the couch. He had his feet propped up on the edge of the coffee table with his PC in his lap, headphones on and typing away. He looked relaxed, wearing a white t-shirt, black jeans, and black boots. He looked up and caught Pixie's eye, watching her as she walked behind the couch, and then flopped over the back of it, rolling to land on her back, outstretched across it. She looked up at Juice as he smiled down at her and carefully removed the end of Pixie's ponytail which had made it onto the keyboard of his computer, then slipped his headphone down to around his neck.

"Whatcha doin'?" Pixie sing-songed, giving Juice a goofy smile.

"Just some hacking and audio editing, why?" He booped Pixie's nose and watched her fingers latch around his power cable and start to twist and fiddle with it.

"Just a little bored and nervous, came to bug ya'." Pixie explained, reaching up to return the boop and then push a key on his keyboard. Juice chuckled and swatted her hand away. "Is the hacky thing important?"

"I'm just trying to gather intel on the witness and look at the audio files, get the best out of them."

"Okay." Pixie nodded, trying to stay still and quiet whilst Juice put his headphones on and carried on typing, watching her from the corner of his eye as her hand went back to the cable again. "Do you think the others are gonna be okay?" Pixie suddenly piped up after a second.

Juice stopped typing and pulled his headphones down again, looking at her fully. "What?"

"I'm just worried about the others, you think anything might happen?" Pixie explained, her fidgeting intensifying as her feet began to tap idly against the arm of the couch.

Juice stroked the side of Pixie's face. "If anything does happen, they'll handle it, all of them are good fighters." He said, trying to reassure her, though he had to admit, he was nervous about it too. "It's probably just gonna be a boring meeting. Clay's probably gonna do his gun selling spiel whilst the others look intimidating." Juice explained. "He'll just be all like, 'I'm Clay, I've got your guns, you got my money, let's talk about it'." Juice said, putting on a deep, gravelly and grumpy voice to try and playfully imitate Clay's.

Pixie giggled at the impersonation, reaching for Juice's hand. "Do it again!" She said eagerly, tugging on Juice's wrist as he gently tried to extract himself from her grip.

"No." He said laughing. "Go do something to burn off your energy." He tried to order Pixie, rounding up her hands and putting them firmly onto her stomach, as soon as he released them, they were back to playing with his computer cable. Juice gave a resigned sigh.

"Don't wanna, I wanna talk to you." Pixie teased, then wriggled like she couldn't get settled, Juice was watching her, she looked tense and wound up, like she couldn't get comfortable in her own body.

"As much as I love having the company, you really need to go blow off some steam, kiddo." Juice urged.

Pixie gave a little pout and then reached up, grabbing Juice's shoulder to use as leverage to spin herself around so she could put her knees over the back of the couch.

He sighed and chuckled. "I'm not supposed to be a handhold."

Pixie grabbed his hand. "But you're so good at it." She giggled. Juice pulled his hand out of her grip and watched as her fingers went back to the charger and looped the cable back on itself and then twisted, knotting it. He reached over and grabbed the bike chain loop from his kutte on the coffee table and passed it to Pixie.

"Okay, if you really wanna keep me company, you can stay put, but quit trying to knit with my cable, use the loop I made for ya, you can play with that to your heart's content, yeah?" Juice said, pulling Pixie's hands off of the cable with a laugh. "You're such a little pest today."

Pixie started fiddling with the chain and stuck her tongue out at Juice with a giggle. "Well yeah, 'coz you've been sitting around all day and I wanna spend time with my bro."

Juice felt his heart melt a little. As much as Pixie got on his nerves when she was in moods like this, he wouldn't change it for anything. It helped remind him that there were people who cared about him. "Well some of us have intel to sort, as much as I wanna spend time with my chaotic little sister."

Pixie sighed, then poked Juice in the knee. "You gotta move around though, you haven't all day and if you don't you get all antsy, and then you can't sleep, and then that makes you anxious, and then you have an anxiety attack." Pixie listed, making hand gestures to emphasise her points, one of them got too emphatic and her hand smacked against his laptop screen, almost sending it off of Juice's lap.

"Pix!" Juice scolded, rounding up her wandering hands and putting the chain back into them again. "As much as I know you're right, I still wanna get this done. How about we make a deal, I get to have five more minutes sorting this out, and then we can go out somewhere and blow off steam together."

Pixie nodded eagerly. "Okay, I like that plan." She focused on keeping her hands on the chain and tried not to talk to Juice, watching his face as he went back to work. Juice had to give it to her, Pixie really did try to reign it in. She didn't say a word as her fingers played with the chain for a minute, and then she couldn't hold it any more.

"Do you think bees have favourite flowers?" Pixie piped up.

Juice stopped typing and tipped his head back. "Oh my god."

"Sorry." Pixie said sheepishly. "I'll go bug Chibs." Pixie made to roll over but Juice put a hand on her waist to stop her.

"No, stay, I know you need to be close to me right now." Juice stroked her hair. "Just sit tight for a little longer, 'kay?"

Pixie nodded. "M'kay." She started listing all the parts of a Harley Davidson to try and keep her mind at bay, but when that didn't help, she tried to list all the dog breeds she could think of, and then how many motorcycle tricks she could do. Her mind was too frantic for lists though so Pixie gave a little huff, getting frustrated at herself and then decided to stretch to get some of the frantic energy out. She straightened her legs and back, then put her arms above her head and went stiff, stretching all her muscles, Juice watched her and thought she looked like a little cat. All of a sudden, Pixie felt her shoulders slip against the black leather material of the sofa cushion as she began to slide off the couch head first and gave a little panicked squeak. Juice launched sideways and leant across Pixie's torso to weigh her down before she slid off all together and smacked her head on the coffee table, whilst grabbing his PC before it took a tumble as well. They stared at each other for a second, both wide-eyed before Pixie spoke up.  
"Sorry." She squeaked seeing the frustration on Juice's face.

Juice gave an exasperated laugh. "You are so annoying." He shook his head as he put his PC on the coffee table and grabbed Pixie's middle, pulling her torso back onto the sofa fully before leaning across her again.

"Annoying as in 'endearing little sister'? Or annoying as in 'buzz off before I smother you with a throw pillow'?" Pixie asked cautiously.

Juice booped her nose. "I'm not mad, kiddo, don't worry, though that last option's tempting." He joked as he grabbed a blue cushion and pretended to try and cover Pixie's face with it. She squealed and giggled, trying to fight him off and pulling it out of his hands so she could gently hit him with it instead.

"Oh it's on!" Juice announced before pinning Pixie's wrists and tickling her making Pixie laugh and squirm under him. The two of them fought like this until Pixie started hiccuping with laughter which made Juice start laughing so hard he ended up flopping down on top of her. They lay in a heap whilst they got their breath back until Juice sat up a little.

"C'mon, let's go get our helmets on."

Pixie raised her eyebrows. "But you need to do the hacky thing."

"Well I'm not exactly doing it right now, am I?"

"Sorry, J." Pixie wrinkled up her nose.

"Hey, you're right, I do need to take a break, so let's get ready and we'll go find something for Abel's party."

Pixie's eyes lit up immediately. "Really?"

"Yeah, we kinda need to get something." Juice nodded, sitting up. "Do you know if Chibs' got anything either?"  
"Probably not, we could go ask?"

"Yeah, c'mon." Juice sat up and stretched, shut his laptop screen and grabbed his kutte, watching as Pixie dashed off to her room to grab hers and her backpack before coming back and the two went out to go find Chibs and shop for Abel's presents.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	84. Drastic Measures

Pixie was using a jump rope in the lot to try and ease her energy, she'd just got back from getting baby gifts with Juice and Chibs. Pixie had purchased a baby hamper with blankets, bibs, clothing, bubble bath and a cuddly lamb. Chibs settled on a Harley Davidson baby hamper he found knowing it would make Jax laugh, though it was practical too, with a blanket, baby clothes, hat, bib and a cool storage box. Juice being the techy guy that he was settled for a night light display which had a built in baby monitor and played lullabies.

Chibs had gone off to wrap the gifts, and Juice had gone back to his intel tasks, so Pixie was doing her best to keep herself from worrying. Just as she stopped skipping to take a drink of water from her water bottle, Opie's truck drove in at speed, tailed by the Sons' black van. Pixie almost tripped over her rope as she caught the bullet holes in the van and the layer of dust and grit on the lower sides, showing it had been speeding off road at one point. Pixie swore as she watched the van drive into the garage and the truck park up. Tig and Opie jumped down from the cab as Pixie ran to them, eyes wide and fearful, scanning for injuries.

"We're okay, we're okay." Tig grabbed her as she reached them. "Nobody got hit."

"What happened?" Pixie asked, giving him a hug.

"Ambush, we're alright." Opie spoke up as she fussed over him too. "Jax and Clay are fine as well."

"Thank god." Pixie breathed, she shook her head as her temper flared. "I'm gonna kill him! I fucking knew it, Clay should've called for backup!" Pixie seethed. Tig and Opie grabbed her upper arms before she could take off after the van.

"No, the last thing we want is another repeat of Clay throttling you." Opie warned her as she tried to free herself from their grips as they forcibly marched her towards the clubhouse.

"Ope's right, angel, we need you safe." Tig urged. "You can't go after Clay. We won't let you."

Pixie furiously kicked a stone across the lot. " _Fine_."

"Why don't you go get beers for everyone whilst Jax and Clay come down from the garage?" Tig asked to distract her. "We all need to chill out."

Pixie nodded and breathed in and out for a second to calm herself. "Sure, I also picked you up baby gifts to give Abel."

Tig smiled with relief. "Thank god I got you, baby, what did you get?"

"I got him a hamper, but I got you to give him a Winnie the Pooh themed play mat and Tigger toy, couldn't resist seeing as you're Tigger."

Tig chuckled. "That sounds really sweet, Abel's gonna love those."  
"Is that why Jax calls you Piglet?" Opie asked.

"Yeah, and coz' apparently I'm small, wear pink, and also I laugh-snorted in front of him, he's refusing to let me live that down." Pixie explained.

Opie laughed. "I love it when you do that, shit's hilarious."

"Almost as funny as thinking Donna's soap was a candy bar, had you spitting for hours." Pixie recalled.

"Hey, it was an honest mistake." Opie grumbled, though he was smiling.  
"You ate soap?" Tig asked him, his eyebrow cocked as Pixie disappeared inside whilst Tig and Opie settled down on the picnic benches around the back of the clubhouse. She grabbed beers and passed them to Juice and Chibs, then grabbed a couple from the fridge and one from the storage box on the floor that was used to refill the fridge. She walked back out as Jax and Clay reached them and handed the four beers out to the group before checking on Jax, making sure he wasn't hurt either, to help calm her anxiety.

"Beers warm." Clay grunted.

"So were the bullets." Pixie grunted back, scowling at him before she went into the clubhouse through the back door, shutting it behind her. As Pixie was about to go talk to Chibs, her phone trilled in her pocket, a text from Piney.

P.W.: _Going 2 get Wendy, tell Jax._

Pixie turned back around, hand on the door handle and opened it a crack, pausing to hear the talk on the other side. She stopped to see if they were having a private talk or whether it was something she could walk in on without Clay ripping off her head.

"So, was this a mistake or was Laroy sendin' a message?" Opie asked as Jax lit a cigarette and passed one to Tig, none of them seeing the door open the tiniest sliver. _Laroy?_ Pixie thought, _Why would they be attacking when Tig said they were meeting with them before the Mayans?_

"I don't know." Clay said, staring at his boots as he kicked some loose pebbles.

"This could be a worse case scenario." Jax said, leaning back against the wooden pillar. "Niners want us dead, Mayans won't trust us. We'll lose our customer base, gain two huge beefs." Jax finished. Pixie felt like she should step back, but her curiosity and concern for the welfare of her family got the better of her. Last time she accidentally heard a conversation, she found out Clay wanted to murder Opie. She had to know if he was still on that path, and if so, what the plan was, and this might just be her one shot at doing so. She had to try.

"Broke with no guns." Opie mused gravely.

Jax's cell phone rang and he pulled it out his pocket. "Shit. That's Gemma." He told the other men before he answered it. "I'm on my way." He barked into the phone. "Yeah. Be there in a few." Jax exhaled and took off his sunglasses to scrub his face. "I gotta go pick up my kid." he told them.

"We need somethin' good right now. Go get him." Clay dismissed.

"A'ight. See you at the house" Jax nodded.

"Yup." Clay agreed. Pixie watched Jax striding off to his bike, Pixie put her phone on silent and then texted him Piney's message, hoping he wouldn't question why she didn't go get him. She watched as Opie got up too and went to his truck, probably going to pick up his kids.

"What the hell was that, man?" Tig said, letting out a sigh of dismay over the events of the shooting.

"It was like the angry black man was even angrier than we thought, huh?" Clay leant back against the bench and Tig put a boot on the seat so he could lean on his thigh, too nervous to sit, Pixie realised. "Laroy definitely double-crossed us." Clay continued, Pixie's brow furrowed in confusion at this comment. _Did Clay purposely do something?_ "And Ope?" He asked Tig, who's jaw was clenching and unclenching as he rubbed his chin, all tells that he did when Tig was on the edge.

"Nah, I couldn't." Tig answered, looking away, not wanting to look Clay in the eye. Pixie's heart stuttered at his answer. "Couldn't get a clear shot." Tig tacked onto the end. Pixie watched him, realising the first half was a truth, the second, a lie. She knew Tig like the back of her hand, he didn't want to kill Ope, but was covering because he didn't want to admit that to Clay.

Clay looked as his friend, not seeing what Pixie did, or if he had, he hid it well. "Well, if the Niners are that pissed, maybe they bring their rage to Charming." Clay alluded. Pixie's blood ran cold, Clay was plotting Opie's death, right there in the open, and pinning it on the Niners. That had to be what the earlier shoot out had been about. "I mean, they saw Opie's truck at the money drop." Clay continued.

Tig paled a little and sat down next to Clay, Pixie watched him with concern on her face. "What, a drive-by?" he asked, looking at Clay.

"Got to be tonight, after the party." Clay told him, looking off into the lot. It sent a chill down Pixie's spine as to how casual Clay was able to discuss the murder of one of his family members, as if it was as normal as discussing the weather. Tig on the other hand, looked like a coiled spring, the way his leg bounced and his teeth worried his bottom lip. It gave Pixie hope that Tig really didn't want to see the plan through, and had in fact stalled. This had Pixie thanking just about every god she could think of, as it meant not only did Tig have faith in Ope, but Pixie might actually be able to try and do something to help save him.

"Make it ghetto, make it gangsta." Clay said before getting up off of the bench. _Whatever the fuck that means,_ Pixie thought.

"Alright." Tig said with a sigh. Pixie watched Clay go in the direction of the main clubhouse doors whilst Tig stared up at the sky in a look of grim acceptance. Pixie moved away from the back door and scrambled to her room, grabbing the employee sheet of Eviqua's, hoping she might be able to bring it up to Clay as a last ditch effort to get him to believe that Opie was not a rat. She caught him just as he went to the bar.

"Hi, Clay." Pixie greeted casually, doing her best to look like she wasn't flustered.

"What now?" He grunted at her.

"I wanted to show you this." Pixie passed it to him. "It's the witness' profile, and Juice is almost done with the audio file I got off of the neighbour, if you listen to it, it might be useful." Pixie told him.

Clay took off his sunglasses and looked at Pixie with his sharp blue eyes. "Here's what we're gonna do. You're gonna get me a _cold_ beer, I'm gonna drink it and you're gonna put that goddamn sheet away and stop playin' detective."

"But Clay, we could use the info to track down the witness and stop them testifying, we could save Bobby." Pixie insisted.

Clay pressed his thumb and forefinger onto the bridge of his nose for a second. "Listen, kid, I get it, you wanna help save the day, but right now, I got enough shit to deal with, and listening to an old lady babble on about what she thinks she heard and saw is not one of them."

"You don't trust the source?" Pixie asked.

"No, I fucking don't. It's not legit." Clay said bluntly. "Congrats, you wasted a morning, go get me a beer."

"Bite me, Clay." Pixie seethed grabbing the paper and her backpack before she stormed out of the clubhouse doors, heading for her bike. She shoved her helmet on and started it up, roaring out of the lot. She felt like she failed, Clay wasn't going to listen to her any time soon, and Opie had mere hours left unless she could think of something to do. Pixie hated feeling like a failure, it always made her insecurities flair along with her temper. In truth, Pixie felt like everything was spinning out of control, her worst fears were coming to fruition and she didn't know how to stop it or how to fix it. At the end of the day, she was just a twenty-two year old girl with a Harley and a penchant for trouble, she didn't know everything, and she wasn't a hero, that she was well aware of. She just wanted to keep her family safe and happy, but Clay seemed to be doing his level best to stomp on that at every chance he got. Pixie rode out onto the back roads where things were quieter and she could ride fast and hard, getting out her frustrations in a way that wasn't punching or hitting something, though in that moment, Pixie would have given her left leg to be able to go back and hit Clay with a two by four. She kept going around and around in what she guessed was a wonky figure of eight made out of joining roads whilst her mind spun out of control, she had to think of something, and this was all new territory for her, Pixie had never had to plan on saving someone from death. She wondered about telling someone, but again, the fear of Clay finding out and either killing her, or Opie before she could stop it, had her keeping her lips sealed from talking to the Sons. _Besides,_ Pixie thought, _I doubt any of them rank high enough in Clay's mind to the point he'd actually pause and listen to them._ The only person she'd seen who had been able to talk Clay out of something had been Bobby, and even then, that had taken a couple of tries, and definitely wasn't possible now seeing as Bobby was currently incarcerated. _Clay had said Delilah wasn't a legitimate source, so what would he class as one?_ Pixie pondered as she stopped at a stop sign and watched a couple cars go by, one of them was a Charming PD cruiser. Pixie thought about Unser and how deep his history with Clay went, _would he count as a legit source?_ Pixie checked her phone and realised half an hour had passed since she stormed out of the clubhouse, she felt like she'd wasted more time and made an impulse decision, she tailed the cruiser.

☠️☠️☠️

Chief Unser swept what little hair he had back against his scalp, an old habit he'd had since childhood that only reappeared whenever he was stressed out, like he was now. ATF was running amuck in his building, causing havoc and messing with his town. He couldn't wait to see the back of them, especially Agent Stahl, who had to be the strangest, coldest and manipulative woman Wayne had ever met, and that was saying something considering he counted Gemma as a friend. He poured himself a coffee and realised he was down a deputy, so went in search of Hale, checking all his usual haunts before heading downstairs to the jail cells, recalling that Hale liked to go down there to think sometimes as except for the odd drunk guy or Son, they were usually empty and that part of the building was deserted. His shiny black brogues slapped against the steps as he reached the bottom, head on a swivel as he checked each cell, looking for his Deputy. Sure enough, the second cell had Hale sat on the bed nursing a coffee and staring sternly at the floor.

"I've been lookin' all over for you." He said in slight annoyance. David Hale just looked up sombrely at him. Wayne opened the heavy metal door which creaked noisily in protest and walked towards his co-worker. "The hell you doin' in here?" He asked Hale.

"The only place I can think with ATF buzzin' around."

"I can relate." Unser said to him, putting a hand on one of the chipped cream painted metal bars. As Hale was about to speak, he suddenly paused and stood up. "What?"

"I thought I heard a scratching sound." Hale said quietly, moving to the door at the end of the jail that was used to escort prisoners directly out of the jail on occasions. Unser followed, ears pricking as he tried to pick up on the noise. Sure enough, there was another scratchy-scrabbling sound and the door suddenly opened and a young woman practically threw herself inside and shut the door. Unser recognised her immediately, she was wearing a light pink Sons kutte over a black tank top and red jean shorts. Pixie turned around and almost jumped out of her skin when she realised Unser and Hale were standing a few steps away. She dropped her lock pick as she startled.

"Did... did you just break _into_ a _police station_?" Unser asked.

Pixie looked at him and Hale sheepishly. "Yeah, I actually really need to talk to you, and I didn't fancy trying to get past Agent Megabitch upstairs." Pixie explained.

Hale stood there dumbfounded as he took in Pixie, he recognised her immediately from his brief time questioning her at the clubhouse. He stalked forwards and grabbed her upper arm.

"Do you realise how much trouble you're in, miss?"

"Yeah, I know, but it's urgent, I really need help." Pixie insisted, trying to wriggle out of his grip.

"You shouldn't be in here, goddammit." Unser said in defeated frustration at the audacity of the Sons.

"I _know_ , but I had to find a way to talk to you, please." Pixie insisted. "Get off me."

"No, we just witnessed you break into a police building yo-" Hale argued.

"I had no choice!" Pixie argued. "You gotta listen to me!"  
"Stop resisting, or I'm placing you under arrest." Hale warned. "Are there any others?"

"No, I came alone, I promise, just listen to me for a second, will ya?" Pixie tried to pull away from him.

"You're not in a position for making demands." Hale grunted, talking over Pixie as she tried to get him off her.

"Opie's going to die!" Pixie suddenly yelled, her panic breaking to the surface. Unser and Hale froze.

"What did you say?" Unser asked.

"Look, arrest me if you have to, at this point I don't care, I just need your help or Opie's going to die!" Pixie pleaded, putting her wrists together and out for Hale, showing she really wasn't trying to escape, she just needed him to listen and loosen his hold on her so she wasn't feeling as threatened.

"What're you talking about?" Unser said in bewilderment.

"Clay thinks he's a rat, doesn't he?" Hale suddenly spoke, looking worried, letting his grip loosen on Pixie's upper arm.

"You know?" Pixie asked him, not agreeing, but alluding to it.

"Fuck." Hale cursed, letting go of Pixie's arm in favour of pacing back and forth.

"Am I missing somethin' here?" Unser said putting out his arms and looking at Hale and Pixie.

"I thought you knew?" Pixie looked at Unser with a puzzled expression. "Look, I need help from you guys because I don't know how else I'm gonna save Ope, but I can't rat. I won't." Pixie eyed Hale with distrust. "Stahl's fucked up my family and I don't know how to fix it."

"Hey, at this point, I'm on your side, sweetheart, I've just about had it with her. You're not ratting." Unser said softly, trying to ease Pixie's concern.

"If I help, I'm betraying my badge, but if I don't, you're saying a man could die?" Hale asked Pixie, looking at her seriously.

Pixie nodded her head. "Who's side are you on?"

"That badge, ain't even real silver." Unser said gesturing to Hale's prized deputy badge. "What do you know, son?" He asked Hale softly. Hale hung his head before tipping it back, putting his hands on his hips.

"If it's any consolation, you weren't exactly being the most stellar of cops in the first place, seeing as you were having an inappropriate interoffice relationship with the bitch from hell." Pixie said quietly.

Hale did a double take. "How the fuck...?" He couldn't stop himself from looking shocked, confirming what Jax had told Pixie. Unser looked at his deputy with wide eyes, shaking his head in complete shock and disbelief.

Pixie shrugged. "I have my sources, how about I keep that quiet if you help me?"

"Oh, we're into blackmail?" Unser looked at Pixie.

"Desperate times call for drastic measures." Pixie said a little guiltily. "You can do so much better, by the way." Pixie said, giving Hale a pat on the arm. "I feel really weird and bad and guilty about all this, trust me, this was the last place I wanted to go, but I'm all out of ideas."

Hale let out a breath and nodded. "Alright, let's have a chat."

☠️☠️☠️

After talking to Hale and Unser, or rather, listening to them both and saying what she could without ratting, Pixie had a plan in place. Hale and Unser would work to gather what intel they had on Stahl and any proof that Opie wasn't the witness or a rat and hadn't known about the bugs, and Unser would then present the evidence to Clay. Pixie just had to stall as much as she could until then. She knew she could never make Tig choose between her or Clay, and the consequences of what would happen if he defied direct orders, so she had a backup plan in place for if Unser couldn't get to Clay in time. Pixie rode home and hid the two things she'd borrowed from the police station so Tig wouldn't see, then rode up to the clubhouse where the others were getting ready to go to the party, giving Pixie a chance to change too. As soon as she rode into the lot, she knew she'd landed herself in hot water, sitting on the benches outside were Tig, Chibs and Juice, all looking disgruntled as they watched her park up and take off her helmet.

"And just where the hell have you been?" Juice spoke up first, jumping down from the bench agitatedly.

"Sorry, I got mad at Clay and had to go blow off steam, I just rode around for a little while." Pixie said sheepishly.

"A 'little while' and an hour and half are two completely different things." Juice said exasperatedly. "Why didn't you call or text?"

"Kinda hard to do whilst riding, and all you guys seemed busy, I didn't wanna disturb you." Pixie said as she reached the bench.

Chibs raised an eyebrow. "Bite me, Clay?" He asked her.

"Sorry." Pixie scrunched up her nose. "He made me feel like a failure, and I sorta snapped. He wouldn't hear me out or listen to the evidence I found with Piney." Pixie explained. "I'm not great with failure." She picked at the side of her thumb.

"Hey, c'mere." Tig got up and pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head.

"I really didn't mean to make you all mad." Pixie murmured. "I'm screwing up a lot today."

"It's okay, and you tried your best, that's all that matters." Juice patted her shoulder.

"Aye, ye need a hug, lass?" Chibs smiled.

"Always." Pixie smiled back, releasing Tig so she could go to Chibs, he kissed her temple and held her tight.

"Ye feelin' better now?" Chibs stroked her hair.

"Now I'm with you guys, yeah." Pixie admitted, looking at her three closest family members. "I got all my aggro out riding, didn't punch anything."

Chibs smiled at her proudly. "Well done, lassie."  
"Thanks, Chibbie. I found a good racing loop we can all go try when things quieten down." Pixie explained. "Didn't go over one-ten either." She looked over at Tig who nodded in relief. She let go of Chibs and went to Juice who looked like he needed a hug just as much as she did, he must have been worried really bad when Pixie had just taken off. She kissed his cheek and then tucked her head under his chin.

"Sorry, bro." She murmured.

"It's okay, though if you do that one more time, I'm putting a GPS tracker on you." Juice joked. "You gonna go get changed?"

"Yeah." Pixie nodded. "Love you guys." Pixie let go of Juice.

"We love you too, baby, now go get sorted, Chibs brought his Land Rover to take the gifts in." Tig explained.

"Awesome, love that car." Pixie grinned before she darted inside going to her room, there was the faint sound of 'Slipknot' playing on the other side and Pixie gave a squeak of joy, knocking on the door. "Hap?" she called through it.

Sure enough, the door opened and Pixie was hauled up into a tight Happy hug. "Missed you, Little Maniac." Happy grunted.

"Missed you too, Big Maniac, how was the ride?"

"Good, you need to change?"  
"Yeah, I'll grab some stuff and go to the bathroom, that okay?" Pixie asked as Happy closed the door behind them.

"Mmhm. Your room too." Happy said turning and flipping back down on the bed again. "Tat's have healed up good."

"Yeah." Pixie smiled, showing him her leg and arm. "No issues with them or anything, you're a good tattoo artist." Pixie complimented.

"Hm." Happy said simply.

"You are!" Pixie giggled as she opened the dresser, grabbing a black skirt, pink Care Bear top, a pair of tights and under shorts to wear for modesty. 

A small paper aeroplane suddenly whizzed past her ear and she swiped it out of the air on impulse, turning to see Happy, still starfished on the bed, watching her. She unscrunched the aeroplane as best she could and sent it back his way.

"You get Abel anythin'?" Happy suddenly asked as he caught the plane and sent it back Pixie's way.

"Yeah, you?" Pixie flew the plane back.

"Mmhm." Happy rolled and reached under the bed, pulling out a gift bag and then a bear with grey fluffy hair with fangs and a silky black and red cape. "Ted the Impaler."

Pixie burst out laughing, coming to have a look at it. "This is amazing, and very you, I think Abel will love it."  
"Yeah?" Happy asked hopefully.

"Yeah, you big softie." Pixie patted his shoulder. "You did good with this."

Happy nodded and then pulled a second bag out from under the bed. "You." He passed it to her.

"What? For me?" Pixie asked him, he nodded and grinned, watching as Pixie pulled out a black plush cat with bat wings, purple eyes and a pentagram around its neck on a collar.

"Bat Cat, crazy as you." Happy grinned, Pixie giggled as she looked at the cat before giving it a stroke and a hug.

"I love it! thank you, bud." Pixie hugged him, grinning. "Which reminds me, I got you somethin' too."

Happy looked at her with an eyebrow raised as she darted over to the motorcycle tyre shaped trinket box on the dresser and pulled out a small green pouch, then came back and passed it to him. Happy opened and found a bracelet made out of small metal skulls, it had a nice heavy feel to it and he put it on immediately with a big grin. "Love it, thanks kiddo." He ruffled Pixie's hair.

"Welcome, it's a thank you for doing all my tattoos and for being one of my best friends, and my brother."  
Happy hugged her tight and rubbed his cheek against the top of her head. Pixie felt comforted by this little action, he'd started doing it a while back and it was like his unique little show of affection. "Love you, kiddo." He said gruffly.

"Love you too, brother." She gently extracted herself from his grip. "I gotta go get changed, why don't you take your present for Abel to Chibs so he can pack it in his car?"

Happy nodded, getting up with a grunt and a stretch. "See you out there."

Left with her own thoughts, Pixie's smile slipped off her face as the door shut behind Happy. She felt so anxious about the evening and how things would play out, but one thing she knew is that she couldn't and wouldn't let her family down.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ 


	85. Abel's Party

"Yer gonna have ye hands full tonight." Chibs commented cheerily as he drove the Land Rover across town to Jax's house.

 _You have no idea,_ Pixie thought. "Yeah, Moby, Kenny, Ellie and Abel, and that's just the actual kids." Pixie joked.

Chibs chuckled. "Jackie boy's gonna be in fer a long night, what with Abel home an' Gemma clucking over him."

"I think Gemma's convinced Abel's her baby, and Jax has him on loan." Pixie added. "Though I may have to keep out of slapping range from her tonight."

Chibs raised an eyebrow. "Why?" He asked slowly.

"We had a discussion over the fact Gemma was trying to control Wendy, make her go back to Jax so Abel had a mum in the home, whilst also making Wendy feel worthless. Lets just say that conversation didn't go in Gemma's favour and Piney had to act as bodyguard for me. I'm hoping Gemma will be so mushy over Abel she'll drop her vendetta."

"Ah, Gemma does have Jackie's best interest at heart, she just has a funny way of showin' it." Chibs said carefully. "Though if I were ye, I'd keep ma head down, just in case."

"Yeah, that's the plan." Pixie smiled at him. "I'm kinda looking forward to having almost everyone together for the party, it'd be even better if we weren't three short though."

"Aye." Chibs nodded. "Have ye heard from Halfie an' Cherry?"

"Yeah, we speak once a week to make sure they're okay, but they're keeping as low a profile as they can over there, just in case. We can't have ATF tracking Cherry down before Juice can get IDs. Has anyone been able to get in touch with Bobby?"

"We can only communicate with him through Rosen, he'll be okay though, we'll get him out." Chibs said firmly, patting Pixie's knee as they pulled into the road where Jax's house was situated. Chibs parked against the curb and the two of them jumped out and offloaded the gifts to Juice and Tig who were waiting for them. Pixie was pleasantly surprised to see Happy squatting down on the grass with Moby smiling at him as Moby showed him a ladybird he'd found.

"Who knew our hit man's a hit with the kids?" Tig smirked as he kissed Pixie's cheek.

"I called it, he's a big softie under all that growly exterior." Pixie commented as she waved Happy over to come and get his gift to bring inside, Moby trotted after him on his short skinny legs. Moby was a lot like Lowell, both of them were slender and fine boned, they had the same brown hair and blue eyes, though Moby's had a childlike glimmer to them that Lowell's had lost. Over the last few months, Lowell had been improving tremendously with his therapy and addiction, he hadn't relapsed once, had put on weight to a healthy size and had colour in his face again. The road hadn't been easy and more than once, Pixie had had a panicked phone call from him in the middle of the night because he was struggling or felt himself slipping, and she'd had to either talk him down, or go over and help. She was really proud of him though, and Lowell had since made friends with a few people from the recovery clinic he'd been attending and had more a support system than just Pixie. The other Sons were helping where they could too, talking to him and checking in when he was working with them in the garage. Chibs had been doing this a lot and had even got Lowell on board with tea, both of them having a cup when they were on breaks and they chatted about Moby or cars and sometimes books. Pixie watched as Moby spotted Tig and made a beeline for him. Pixie found it adorable that Moby had decided one day that he liked Tig, and followed him around a lot if Tig was helping Pixie with the kids, she found it even sweeter that Tig didn't mind, and even encouraged it, teaching a few bits about motorcycles and how to tie shoelaces. When Moby had tripped over his laces for the second time one day, Tig had got down on the floor with him, put his legs either side of Moby and had shown him his own bootlaces, untying them and retying and letting Moby have a go until he was finally able to do it himself. Both of them had been really excited when Moby had finally got it and since then they'd gotten more comfortable with each other.

"My fwont toof fell out." Moby told Pixie and Tig in a matter-of-fact way. "Dad says da Toof Ninja's gonna come an' give me a nickel."

Tig raised an eyebrow. "Wow, the Tooth Ninja, hm?" He picked Moby up in his arms so Moby could show him the gap. "Last time I lost a tooth all I got was an ice pack." Tig told him. Moby's eyes went wide.

"You lose teef too?"

"Yeah buddy, though mine don't grow back." Tig explained. "You been bug huntin'?"

"Yeah, I fownd a worm, dough Juice told me to put it back." Moby explained with a little pout. "He didn't like it, dough I found a ladybug for Happy."

Pixie giggled, willing to bet that Juice probably had the heebie-jeebies over his little worm gift. "It's probably best to keep putting them back when you find them or else they can't go back to their families." Pixie told him.

Tig nodded. "Pixie's right, and don't go looking for slugs or you'll make her sick."

Moby nodded. "Okay, can I look for caterpillars?"

"Sure, just don't squish 'em or bring 'em inside." Tig told him. "You're a good wilderness explorer." He put Moby down as Moby grinned at the compliment and ran off, spotting Kenny.

"That was very cute." Pixie teased Tig as he tucked her under his arm.

"Don't you start." Tig kissed her temple. Lowell made his way over, waving at them both.

"Hi guys." He greeted.

"Hey, Buster, how's it going?" Pixie asked, stepping forward and giving him a hug. "You look real good."

"Th-thanks." Lowell blushed a little.

"Tooth Ninja?" Pixie asked him, making Lowell laugh.

"Yeah, Moby's old enough to believe all that stuff, and I didn't wanna say fairy, coz' that's a little sappy." Lowell admitted.

Pixie pretended to look offended. "Oh really? I'll have you know that 'Pixie' is just a Celtic name for 'fairy', you callin' me sappy?"

Lowell's eyes went round as he stumbled over his words. "N-no I didn't mean it like that." He blushed furiously as Pixie giggled.

"I'm kidding, bud, I think Tooth Ninja's way better." She nudged him and grinned.

Lowell chuckled in relief. "You are such a tease, you know you got Moby doin' that too? He keeps trying to play pranks on me."

"Whoops, sorry, I can talk to him if you want?" Pixie asked.

"Nah, I think it's kinda cute, we do pranks on each other and it keeps us laughing." Lowell explained. "Anyways, I'm gonna go check on him, last time he got together with Kenny they thought it would be a good idea to fill their pockets with mud." Lowell said with an exasperated, but light-hearted tone. He really loved Moby, more than anything and it was lovely to see. He moved away from them and Pixie and Tig went inside to greet the others. She didn't get more than about a step in before she was jumped on by Ellie, Tig moved off to go get Pixie a drink and to find Happy.

"Pixie! You're here!" She greeted, giving Pixie a big hug. Ellie had grown to where she came just under Pixie's chin, a fact the others liked to tease Pixie about. Pixie didn't mind though, she wanted to encourage Ellie to be happy with whatever height she ended up at. Pixie had seen Nicole struggle with her height as a young teenager, she'd been taller than average and had felt like she wasn't pretty because of it, and Pixie was determined not to let Ellie feel like that.

"How are you, sweetheart?" Pixie asked Ellie as Ellie pulled away, beaming up at her.

"I'm good, Grandma Mary took me and Kenny out today, we went to a water park."

"Oh yeah? How'd that go?"

"She was grumpy the entire time, but Kenny and I had fun, I got to go down a huge slide, it was scary but I did the superhero thing." Ellie explained.

"Wow, that's really good!" Pixie enthused. "I bet you're a good swimmer."

"Yeah! I love swimming." Ellie explained. "Did Kenny and Moby go outside?"

"Yeah, they're with Lowell, go help them bug hunt." Pixie encouraged.

"Okay!" Ellie dashed off and Pixie spotted Jax waiting for her, leaning against the half-wall of his kitchen.

"Jackie boy!" Pixie cheered, giving him a hug. "You good?"  
"Yeah, c'mere." Jax grabbed Pixie's hand and towed her into Abel's room. "Can we talk for a sec'?"

"Sure, what's up bud?" Pixie asked as Jax shut the door behind them and went to the crib where Abel had been tucked in. Pixie let out a small gasp as she saw him, he had Jax's eyes and soft smile.

Jax carefully lifted Abel out and passed him to Pixie to hold, she snuggled him in her arms, gently rocking. "He's been really good since we got home, only cried in the car." Jax commented, stroking Abel's soft cheek. "There was a small incident at the hospital though."

Pixie looked at Jax with concern. "What happened? You okay?"  
"Yeah, ran into Tara. She was asking about the party, and I told her that I was grateful that she'd taken care of Abel and everything, but now he was out of the hospital, I didn't want to see her. Made it real clear, coz' I think when I broke it off after Kohn, she just thought if she kept trying she'd get me back. But I thought about what you said and I don't want to be with her, especially with all the club shit, and Abel." Jax rambled, sitting down in the rocking chair.

"Understandable, I take it she wasn't happy?"

"Called me an ungrateful idiot and tried to slap me."

Pixie could feel her blood boil. "Did she hit you?"

"No, I dodged it, but I realised that that wasn't what I wanted from a relationship, I don't wanna be hit, and I don't wanna hit, so I told her to fuck off back to Chicago and I left."

"Good. Proud of you brother, you deserve so much better." Pixie said firmly. "How do you feel?"

"About that? Relieved, dodged a fucking bullet." Jax smirked. "About everything else...I dunno, I'm still not happy about what went down today, the Niner ambush, you called it from the start." Jax nodded. "You said they'd be pissed."

Pixie looked at him with her brow furrowed. "How did it go from a friendly meeting with them to an all out war zone?"

Jax looked at her with a puzzled expression. "We had a meeting with the Mayans, not the Niners."

"But Tig said..." Pixie trailed off and bit her lip.

"Tig said what?" Jax got up agitatedly. "You know somethin'?"

"Don't get mad, not in front of Abel." Pixie warned him. Jax swiped a hand through his hair and let out a breath. "I could be wrong, but this morning as I was having breakfast with Tig, he said something about a Niners meeting at two-thirty, I just assumed everybody knew."

"No, we didn't. Did he say who was meeting?"  
"I got the impression Tig was acting as bodyguard for Clay." Pixie said slowly. "You really didn't know about that?"

"No." Jax's eyes were angry as he moved to the door. "I gotta talk to Clay."

Pixie's eyes went wide and she moved in front of him, putting her back against the door, careful not to jostle Abel. "He'll kill me if you go out there guns blazing, he'll know I found out and blame me, and we don't exactly know what happened."

"You didn't know, you thought I knew." Jax assured her.

"Clay won't see like that." Pixie said quietly, looking down at Abel as he squirmed gently in her arms. She stroked his cheek and gave him her fingers to hold. Pixie's mind went back to what she'd heard after Jax had left at the clubhouse. Clay really did go behind everyone's back, which meant if he was happy to do that, he would definitely do it again. Meaning there really was no way in hell Pixie could tell anyone about Opie. "He doesn't trust me, I don't think he trusts a lot of people. You saw what happened the last time I defied him in any way, he went for my throat, literally."

"Well fuck." Jax grunted running a hand through his hair. "What do we do? I can't let that lie. He could've staged that ambush, I mean we almost didn't come out of there."

"I know, I hate that he could've done something, but now is _not_ the time to address it. How about we just enjoy tonight?" Pixie suggested. "You just got your kid back, most of our family's here to support you and have fun, so let's embrace it. Then talk through the Niners ambush in Church tomorrow, with the others. Like we did when this happened with Lowell's dad?"

Jax nodded. "Okay, I promise I won't let him get to you, we'll put you down next to Piney, that way you'll be out of grabbing range."

"Yeah, that's a good plan." Pixie nodded.

"I think Piney would take his oxygen tank to Clay's head if Clay tried to get past him to get to you." Jax smiled. "He's really protective and loves you."

"I love him too, it might actually do Clay some good, maybe Piney could knock some sense into him." Pixie joked. "C'mon, should we take the little fella out to everyone?"

"Yeah." Jax said letting out a breath and calming himself before he took Abel into his arms, stroking his chubby little face. "Let's go introduce you to everyone, hm? You've got a crazy family, little guy." Jax grinned lovingly down at Abel.

"Amen to that." Pixie giggled, opening the door for Jax.

☠️☠️☠️

Once everyone was acquainted with Abel, Jax opened all the gifts on his behalf whilst Gemma held Abel so Jax could show him all the things he found, laughing at some of the jokey gifts and being genuinely grateful over the practical ones. After that, Gemma, Donna, Pixie and Luann helped to serve up the buffet of snacks, treats and goodies for the hungry guests and Pixie tag-teamed with Lowell to get Kenny and Moby to eat the healthy things first before the little five year olds stuffed themselves on chocolate and cookies. Everyone then gathered in the lounge on chairs and any flat stable surface to eat and talk before Pixie entertained the kids by putting Moby and Kenny into a large box from the gifts and drove them around the room with Ellie. She then began helping to clear away the plates and joking around with Jax and Tig. Chibs was all over Abel, cooing at him and talking to him, which Pixie found very sweet, but not surprising, Chibs really loved kids, and he was definitely a family guy. As Pixie carried out a bowl of cheese balls to put on the side table just in case anyone wanted more snacks, she made eye contact with Juice who was loitering with a beer in one hand. They exchanged a smile, but Juice's didn't meet his eyes. Pixie raised an eyebrow and put the bowl down, before grabbing his hand and towing him out into Jax's back garden where the sun had just disappeared over the horizon. Once they got out, Pixie shut the door behind them and looked at him.

"You good?" They both said at the same time. "Wait, no you." They both added before laughing.

"We really gotta stop doing that." Pixie smirked.

"Just shows how close we are." Juice shrugged with a smile. "You don't seem okay, I've been keeping an eye on you and I dunno, you just seem off."

"What do you mean?" Pixie asked, trying not to look him in the eye, Juice put his beer down on the kitchen window sill and put his hands gently on Pixie's cheeks to get her to look up at him.

"I mean, you've been stressed out all day, you disappeared twice, we found you crying on the roof last night, and you look scared. You're trying to hide it, and you're doing well, but I know you too well for that shit, what's getting you, kiddo?"

Pixie wriggled out of Juice's grip, as the wave of emotions she'd been trying to suppress started threatening to overflow. She felt worse without Juice's contact and suddenly threw herself against him, burying her face in his shirt. Juice froze up for a half a second before he put his strong arms around Pixie and kissed the top of her head. "Pix? You're worrying me here, what's going on with you? I've never seen you like this before."

"I'm scared, Juice." Pixie murmured against him, Juice always smelt of fresh mint, citrus, pine, and cigarettes, comfortingly clean, but with an edge. She felt Juice's demeanour change from comforting to protective and he gently tugged her away, his sharp brown eyes looking into hers.

"Why? Has someone threatened you? Are you hurt?"

Pixie shook her head. "I'm not hurt, but..."

"But what?" Juice was searching Pixie's face trying to look for answers. "Are you in trouble? Is it Tig? Clay?" Pixie looked away from his gaze as he mentioned Clay and Juice's heart stuttered.

"I-I can't tell you." Pixie whispered. "Not yet."

"Not yet?" Juice looked taken aback. "Pixie, what's going on with you?"

"Something may or may not happen tonight, that's all I can say." Pixie pleaded with him. "I might be able to tell you tomorrow, once it's over."

"What does that even mean?" Juice asked desperately, his heart was hammering in his chest as he looked at Pixie's troubled and scared eyes, there was something huge that she wasn't telling him, her behaviour made sense now, but it still left so many questions for him.

"I can't say, or else something bad might happen." Pixie murmured, wriggling out of his grip on her shoulders so she could cuddle against his chest, needing to feel comforted and safe.

"You're sounding like me when my OCD gets out of hand." Juice said gently. "Please, just tell me, you can tell me anything."

"Not now." Pixie said sadly. "You'll freak out."

"I won't, cariño, please."

Pixie shook her head. "Tomorrow."

"What's the difference between then and now?" Juice asked her, rocking them side to side slightly, knowing that helped Pixie when she panicked sometimes.

"A lot. Promise me you won't tell the others about what I said, not even Chibs or Tig."

"I promise, of course, you can always trust me, Pix." Juice assured her. He let out a breath knowing Pixie wasn't going to open up, so all he could do for the moment was try and make her feel safe and loved. "What can I do to make you feel better now?"

"Can we just have a hug for a bit, you make me feel safe." Pixie murmured.

"Sure, anything for you, baby sis." Juice tightened his grip on her, leaning his back against the wall so Pixie could lean against him.

"You weren't doing good either, let's talk about that." Pixie said after a moment, lifting her head to look up at Juice.

"Mine's way less dramatic."

"Still valid." Pixie insisted.

"Can I ask you somethin'?" Juice said after a moment.

Pixie patted his chest. "Anything, you know that, J."

Juice nodded. "Am I stupid? Like actually idiotic?" He said quietly.

Pixie wriggled in his grip so she could see his face better. "What? No, no way. Did someone say something?"

Juice shrugged. "I just feel it sometimes, Clay doesn't help though."  
"What did he say?"

"After you stormed out, I finished up the audio and then Chibs and I tried to show him the evidence after we listened to it and realised you struck gold with that neighbour. Clay didn't share that same view. Called me a 'retarded shithead'."

"I really fucking hate that word." Pixie seethed. "You are _not_ that, J." Pixie said fiercely. "You are smart, way smarter than Clay, okay? Don't listen to him."

"I know, he just triggered my anxiety." Juice said, hanging his head.

"He's the shithead." Pixie continued. "You are smart in so many different ways, you're tech smart, drug smart, street smart, I mean hell you've got so many different talents."

"You're just saying that." Juice grunted.

"Oi." Pixie said sharply, stroking his face. "I'm not. You know me, I'd never lie to you and I don't have a filter, I'll call you out if you do something stupid, like when you took those sleeping pills, and the whole doberman situation." Pixie explained. "So when I say you're smart, I'm _not_ lying and I'm _not_ buttering you up, you're amazing, J, really fucking smart. I mean, you helped save Cammy, I didn't know what I was doing with those drugs or the heart monitor, but you stepped up to it and came through for me and Cammy, that's not something just anyone could do. Hell, I'd fucking love to see Clay try and do that." Pixie chuckled.

"Thanks, Pixie." Juice smiled, feeling more secure. "Sometimes it just gets me that I can only do certain things and then you come in doing all your talents and shit."

"Hey, I'm only good at what I do coz' I non-stopped practised and I had Bruce who put the pushiest of parents to shame. Back in Highton, I was constantly training for gymnastics or shooting or riding my bike or sparring. I put so many hours into them, my whole childhood was taken up by them, which means I really freaking suck at some other stuff, and my ADHD doesn't help."

Juice nodded. "I get that, we had wildly different childhoods. What do you suck at?"

Pixie giggled. "You wanna hear all my failures?"  
Juice chuckled. "Yeah, please."  
"I suck at swimming, writing, research, not being impulsive, organisation, listening to authority, running, cooking when I'm not being watched, science, computer skills, I mean the list goes on, J." Pixie laughed. "I mean, you saw me try and sit still for five freakin' minutes earlier. I can only do recon if I'm physically doing it, whereas you can chill for hours ploughing through stuff and your hacking and coding? I wouldn't even know where to start, you're a freakin' genius with that, not to mention how kind, funny and athletic you are."

Juice laughed. "Yeah, I get you. Thanks for making me feel better."

"Thanks for makin' me feel better too, J. You're the best."

Juice was about to reply when the back door opened and Kenny came out with Moby. "We're going spider hunting." Kenny informed them.

"Oh wow, good work guys, just don't touch any if you find 'em." Pixie reminded them. "Some could bite you."

"Okay!" Moby agreed as Lowell came out with a glass of water.

"Oh, hey guys, I can watch the boys if you wanna head in?"

"Sure, thanks, Lowell." Juice smiled, patting him on the back as Pixie and Juice went inside, Tig swooped on her as soon as she came through the door.

"There's my girl, wondered where you went." Tig kissed her cheek. The trio went and sat down with the group where Tig pulled Pixie into his lap for a while, chatting with everyone before moving over to Chibs to cuddle with him. Pixie kept the conversation going, realising there had still been no sign of Unser or Hale and it was starting to get late. The whole evening had been a waiting game between the Winstons leaving and Unser appearing. Pixie bit her lip, hoping they would show up like they said they would. She chatted to Jax, Happy and Wendy and kept the kids entertained, but when Moby fell asleep on Tig and Kenny did the same on Opie, Pixie's heart sank. The party was winding down, with no sign of the cops and Opie was preparing to leave. Pixie tried to maintain her cheery demeanour as she helped Opie gather up all the kids belongings and tidy up the plates.

"You okay, kiddo?" Opie asked as he put a plate in the dishwasher with Pixie.

"Yeah, if you wanted to stay for longer, we could put Kenny in Jax's room and I'll watch him whilst you stay and chat." Pixie suggested.

"Nah, I can't do that you ya'." Opie patted her shoulder. "You've cared for my family enough tonight, you deserve to have some fun, Donna and I will just take the kids home and have some alone time with them."

"You sure?" Pixie asked him. "I'm always happy to watch Kenny, and you're having fun, plus Donna's gotten reall comfortable with everyone, which is a really good step in the right direction for her." Pixie tried to persuade him.

"Yeah, sweetheart, I'm sure." Opie nodded, watching Pixie fidget with a spoon. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." Pixie assured him as Donna came into the kitchen.

"Tonight's been really good." Donna said cheerfully. "You all done here, Harry?"

"Yeah, babe, glad you had fun." Opie said honestly. "Right, I'll take Kenny and you grab Ellie and let's get the sleepyheads home."

"Sure, hon." Donna nodded before hugging Pixie goodbye. "Its been real good seeing you too, Pix, the kids adore you." Donna said sweetly.

Pixie's mind was screaming at them not to go. "I love them too, and you guys, you're all amazing." Pixie said instead.

"Aww." Donna smiled before they gathered their kids and Tig jumped to his feet once Lowell took Moby off of him and said goodbye to the Winstons along with everyone else before joining Pixie in the kitchen.

"I'm gonna head back home, babe, you stay with Juice, he said he'd bring you back once you'd finish clearing up." Tig assured her.

 _Uh oh!_ "Actually, I want to go home." Pixie said, her eyes pleading with Tig. "I'm exhausted and I don't feel well."

Tig looked at her with concern, feeling Pixie's forehead. "Maybe we should get Chibs to take you back to his place, you are feeling a little warm."

Pixie shook her head adamantly. "No, Tiggy, please, I just wanna go home with you."

Tig looked like he wanted to say something but held his tongue. "I was kinda hoping to go for a late night ride, the roads are quiet and I can't do that if you're ill on the back of my bike, doll."

"Just drop me off then, we could nip home, and you could help get me into bed and then go on your drive? I wouldn't take that long, I mean it's like two minutes from here, if that." Pixie insisted, hugging Tig to her.

"I don't think that's a good idea, baby." Tig argued. "Let me get Chibs."

" _No_." Pixie said desperately, looking like she was going to cry if Tig let go of her. "Please, Tiggy, just take me home."

Tig inhaled and exhaled, trying not to get frustrated. "Alright, _fine_ , but I want to be quick, so grab your bag, you got your helmet?"

"Yeah, packed it just in case." Pixie told him dashing for her things before coming back and holding onto Tig's hand. They said their goodbyes too and settled onto Tig's bike before he sped home, going way faster than he usually did. Once there Pixie insisted that he help her inside, feigning dizziness until they got upstairs to the bathroom where Tig left her to brush her teeth and change. Pixie knew it was now or never, Unser was too late.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ 


	86. Opie's Evacuation

Pixie pushed the ceramic toothbrush holder off of the counter and leant against the thick metal towel rail next to it, knowing that the noise would distract Tig and get him to come in with her. "Tiggy!" Pixie called frantically. "I don't feel good."

Tig swore from the bedroom where he'd been agitatedly waiting for her and came rushing in, pulling the sliding door back and found Pixie clinging onto the rail as she leant against the wall. "Baby? What's going on with you?" He urged, putting his hand on the rail automatically.

"I dunno, I just feel really off." Pixie whimpered as Tig focused on feeling her forehead and stroking her face with his free hand. Before he had time to react, Pixie suddenly moved the towel on the rail, pulling a pair of handcuffs which had been concealed under it and snapped one end of them to his wrist before suddenly darting around Tig and backing away from him to the doorway. Tig looked at his wrist, confused before he pulled the towel off completely to see that the other side was attached to the rail, he'd been trapped.

"I'm sorry." Pixie looked at him, eyes round and scared. "I know about the plan to kill Opie, and I can't let you go through with it. He's innocent." Pixie said, trying to hold back panicked tears.

"What the fuck, Pixie!" Tig said, frantically pulling at the cuffs, and realising there was no way he was getting them or the rail off.

"I'm sorry! I really didn't want to do this! I know Clay's forcing you to kill him, but I can't let you do that, this was the only way I could keep you all safe. If you backed out of Clay's decision, he would've hurt you." Pixie whimpered, eyes apologetic and pleading as her voice wavered.

Tig understood what Pixie was trying to do. "Baby, unlock me and let's talk about it."

"No, not yet, I have to get to Opie, I need to get him to safety until I can get the evidence." Pixie explained hurriedly.

"What?" Tig asked her.

"I love you." Pixie said before disappearing into the bedroom. A moment later she appeared in an all black outfit consisting of a hoodie, cargo trouser and military boots. "I'm coming back, I'm sorry."

"Pixie, wait!" Tig urged, automatically trying to go to her and ended up benign yanked back by the cuffs. He heard Pixie's steps as she thundered downstairs "Shit!"

Outside, Pixie pulled out Tig's key's motorcycle keys and phone, turning the phone off and starting up his bike. She'd plucked them from his pocket as he was helping her up the stairs, there was no way she could stealth across town on her pink bike, so Tig's was her only other option, seeing as it was black and pretty inconspicuous if you drove fast enough. She pulled on the matte black full face helmet she'd borrowed from the police evidence locker and pulled it on before heaving Tig's bike handlebars and pulling out of the drive. His bike was a lot heavier and bulkier than hers, but Pixie was experienced with riding and got used to it pretty quickly as she searched for Opie's truck in the suburbs, she didn't think he'd made it home yet, as his neighbourhood was further from Jax's that Pixie's was. She worried her lip anxiously as she rode, searching for it. Eventually she spotted it at a traffic light and roared up to the driver's window, shocking herself when she found Donna at the wheel. Pixie pulled up her visor and knocked on the glass. Donna startled but pulled the window down.

"Pixie?!" She said in surprise.  
"Oh geez, Donna! we have to get you home, Opie's not safe." Pixie urged, scanning the area. She didn't trust Clay and she didn't know if he had a back up plan, which made Donna a target in Opie's truck.

"Opie's with the kids in my car, I stayed at the last moment to help and get dishwasher powder for Gemma." Donna explained frantically, looking at Pixie's frightened eyes.

"Oh shit! Okay, we need to get back to your house. Text Juice, ask him to grab some, say your car broke down or something." Pixie urged. Donna pulled out her phone and quickly texted before putting it back.

"Now what?"  
"I'll escort you back, don't stop for anything." Pixie explained. "I'll keep you safe."

Donna nodded, wound the window back up and the pair of them took off, with Pixie riding alongside, constantly scanning for threats and hoping to the high heavens that Opie and the kids made it back safely. By the time they got there, Opie had just pulled up with the kids and was unlocking the front door, Ellie and Kenny went inside just as Donna screeched to a stop and Pixie braked so hard she almost tipped Tig's bike before pulling the kickstand down, taking the helmet off and frantically ran up the path with Donna. "Ope!" Pixie called, he turned hearing the commotion and grabbed Pixie as she reached him. "Thank god you're okay!"

"What the hell?" He asked, looking at Pixie in her all black outfit and then at Donna, both of them looking panicked and scared.

"Opie, you have to leave Charming, Clay thinks you ratted." Pixie said urgently.

Opie's eyebrows disappeared into his beanie and his grip on Pixie's shoulders tightened. "What? Where is he?"

"Clay doesn't know I'm here, or that I know, he was trying to force Tig out to shoot your truck, but Tig didn't want to do it, and then I locked him in the bathroom." Pixie stumbled over her words.

Opie looked at her in shock. "Holy shit. Do you know if he has a backup plan?"  
Pixie shook her head. "No, that's what I'm afraid of."

"Ah, shit." Opie breathed as Pixie's words sunk in and he felt the panic that the two women were experiencing. "We gotta get the kids out." Opie urged Donna. "Put them in your car."  
"Leave the truck, that's what Clay and Tig were looking for, and how I found Donna." Pixie said quickly.

"I could've been shot?" Donna asked, eyes fearful.

"Not by Tig, I don't think, but I don't know what Clay's up to." Pixie answered. "Go somewhere that the club doesn't know about, just in case. I'll escort you to the town border to make sure nothing happens."

Opie nodded as Donna dashed inside. "Thanks, Pixie."

"I've been trying to get evidence to clear your name, that's what the whole recon mission with Piney was about, though nobody else in the club knows that Clay wants you dead. Unser's trying to get evidence too, but he couldn't get it in time."

Opie tried to absorb the information as Donna dashed out with the kids, securing them in the car as they asked questions, she soothed them as best she could before dashing back for their belongings. "When will Unser have the evidence?"

"I'm hoping tomorrow, I'm gonna have to confront Clay about it." Pixie said, hands shaking.

"I'll be there." Opie said firmly.

"No! Ope, you have to stay away until we know it's safe, I can't lose you!" Pixie broke down, reaching for him, trying to stay in control, but she was losing it rapidly.

"Hey, hey, I'll get my family out and stay out for tonight, then once Unser gives Clay the evidence I'll come back. I want answers from Clay and I want to protect you." Opie explained stroking Pixie's hair. Her breakdown on the roof finally made sense, and why she'd been off at the party.

"Okay." Pixie wiped her face and Opie helped with the sleeve of his hoodie. "We want answers too."

"Is that Tig's bike?" Opie suddenly noticed.  
"Yeah, I kinda hijacked it, couldn't exactly go undercover across town on a pink Harley, and if Clay saw my bike, he'd realise something was up. Tig's gonna kill me for taking it."

"I think, all things considered, he has more important things to be worrying about." Opie said, trying to comfort Pixie as they held each other for a moment before Donna came rushing over.

"Kids are safe and I packed an overnight bag." She explained. "This is that bitch Stahl's doing isn't it? She's made Clay believe Harry turned."

"Yeah, she put bugs in Ope's truck, and Clay isn't smart enough to see what really happened." Pixie nodded. "We need to leave."

"Yeah, c'mon." Opie ushered Donna to the car, each of them exchanging hugs.

"I can't thank you enough for this, Pixie, you're this family's guardian angel." Donna kissed Pixie's cheek. "Please, stay safe for us."

"I will, and I know you guys would do the same for me. I love you guys."  
"We love you too, Pix, let's get out of here." Opie kissed the top of Pixie's head before she pulled on the helmet and started up Tig's bike whilst Opie started up the car and Donna got in. They convoyed out of the suburbs and through the back roads of Charming with Pixie tailing them to the border before stopping at the "Welcome to Charming" sign and waving the car off as the tail lights disappeared into the distance. Pixie breathed out a shaky breath before turning the bike around and riding back into town, her hands were shaking badly and she knew she just had to hold it together until she got back to Tig, he needed her now.

☠️☠️☠️

Chibs stopped his bike at a red traffic light for the intersection in the middle of Charming and lit a cigarette, breathing the smoke in and then out, watching it curl in tendrils up into the night sky. He'd really enjoyed the party and seeing Abel fit and healthy made his heart warm. He thought of Kerrianne, when she was born, how she'd been a plump little thing, right from the start, weighing seven pounds and five ounces, he was over the moon when he got to see her for the first time and the room had been filled with love and adoration for the little baby girl. His mind drifted to the images of Pixie as a baby, she had been small and frail, not really gaining weight properly until she'd been around a year old, if he went off of the photos of her. When she was born, Chibs knew that there had been no fanfare for Pixie, she'd been too ill, and her mum didn't want her. A fact that bothered Pixie immensely and he knew that because of this, and how she'd been raised, Pixie didn't value herself nearly as much as she did others, and it was evident in her impulsive behaviour and how she'd run headlong into danger, rather than thinking before she acted. He knew a big part of that was due to her ADHD, but not all, he just had to figure out how to help Pixie. He adored her like she was his own daughter, it had just felt like there had been such a connection when he'd first met her, and everything else just felt like a natural progression. As Chibs looked down from the sky, and the lights changed, right at the last second, a motorbike roared past with a rider dressed all in black, their boot catching in the light from Chib's headlight. He spotted the platform sole and his heart stuttered. There was no doubt in his mind that that was Pixie, from the boot to the way she was sat, with her legs slightly straightened, a habit she did when she was riding whilst stressed. Chibs swore, threw down his cigarette and tailed the rider, as he got closer, he realised it was Tig's bike too, which further cemented his worry that the rider was Pixie, as well as raising further questions. The rider realised they were being followed and accelerated, weaving between cars and doing their best to shake Chibs off, but he kept going, determined to get to Pixie, knowing something wasn't right and she could be in serious trouble. Right as they got to another intersection, the rider didn't stop at a red light, and went faster instead, swerving around an SUV as it frantically honked its horn, and disappearing down a side road. There was no way in hell Chibs could've followed without being squished under the tires, he smacked his handlebars, swearing again as he figured out what to do next. He pulled over and got his phone, dialling Juice.

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie shot down the side road, her heart beating so fast that her chest was aching with the effort, but she couldn't stop, she had to get home. She'd seen Chibs coming after her, but was worried that A) He didn't recognise her and could have thought she was potentially a threat and, B) If she stopped for him, she'd never be able to finish the ride home, and she needed to get to Tig. She also didn't want Chibs to find out just yet, she wanted to work out how to tell him what happened, and her mind was not in the right frame for coherent explanations. She finally reached Tig's drive and pulled up, getting off of Tig's bike and taking the helmet off before she prepared to wheel it into the garage. Suddenly a strong hand grabbed her shoulder, making her yelp in surprise as Pixie was yanked backwards and spun around, finding herself immediately looking into Chib's fierce brown eyes.

"What have ye done?" His voice was quiet, but strong, as he took in Pixie's tear streaked face, her wide, terrified eyes and her bottom lip which was bloody from being bitten too roughly.

"I had to." Pixie whimpered, trying to break out of Chibs' hold to get to the front door.

"Had to do wha'?" He barked, concern for her making his voice louder. Pixie broke out of his grip and scrambled to the door, tripping on the front step before she fumbled the keys, hands shaking. Chibs jogged after her, steadying her hands with his so Pixie could actually get the key into the lock instead of just scratching the paint surrounding it. "Talk to me, lass, what happened?"

"Gotta get to Tig." Pixie gasped back as she threw open the door and ran to the staircase, leaving the door wide open as Chibs ran after her, watching her feet on the steps. Pixie tripped again halfway up, almost smacking her head on the rail, but Chibs put his arm around her middle, heaving her up and carried her the rest of the way before setting her down on the landing. Pixie burst away from him, throwing open the bedroom door so hard it rebounded off of the wall, the wood shuddering. He heard Tig swear in surprise and he followed Pixie as she ran into the en-suite bathroom, Chibs' eyebrows raised as he caught sight of Tig, sat with his legs outstretched on the white tile floor, and his wrist hanging from the towel rail, handcuffed to it. Pixie dropped down to her knees and scrambled to him apologising over and over again between breathy little gasps.

"Evening." Tig greeted sarcastically before he turned his attention to Pixie who was hyperventilating and shaking as she tried to get the handcuff key from her pocket. "Baby, breathe." He put his free hand on the side of her face. "I'm not mad, you're safe, did you get Opie out?"

Pixie nodded her head. "Yeah, they're all out. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it's okay." Tig assured her, kissing the side of her face as Pixie clung to him.

"Mind explainin' what the feck is happenin'?" Chis asked as he leant against the door frame.

"Yo! You guys here?" Juice's voice called from downstairs.

"Up here!" Chibs called back.

"Oh great, more people to come see me trapped in my own goddamn bathroom." Tig mused. "Key, baby?"

Pixie sat up and took the key out, taking deep breaths as she tried to unlock the cuff, but her panicked state was throwing her coordination off. Tig gently took the key off of her and started figuring it out as Juice arrived in the doorway behind Tig. Seeing Pixie's face and realising how bad of a panic attack she was having, Juice moved past then and pulled Pixie off of Tig, putting her with her back against the sink cabinet and pulled her knees up. He took her hands in his and started working on calming her down before Pixie passed out.

"Clay's gonna kill me." Pixie said after a moment.

"What?" Chibs squatted down so he was on eye level with her as Tig freed himself.

"Did she tell you about the plan?" Tig asked, looking at Chibs and Juice.

"She didn't tell us anythin', I found her out on the roads dressed like this, on _your_ bike. I called Juice thinkin' he knew, then we both got worried when neither of us knew what Pixie was up to and came here." Chibs explained. "So you better start talkin'." He looked at Tig.

" _My_ bike? For fuck's sake, kitten! You locked me in my goddamn bathroom _and_ took my bike?!"" Tig said exasperatedly as he stroked Pixie's hair, she winced at his words, worried that she'd hurt or angered him. They'd need to talk about it, but now wasn't the time.

"Priorities." Chibs growled at him, nudging his arm.

"Yeah, fuck." Tig rubbed his chin for a moment, calming himself. "Clay tried to have Opie assassinated tonight, he thinks Opie ratted." He stated.

"Opie didn't." Pixie gasped. "Stahl framed him, planted bugs, took him to WitPro, wanted to break the club apart."

"Oh shit." Juice stated as some things started to make sense and more questions appeared in his mind.

"I got no clue how Pixie found out though." Tig explained. "Glad she did, I had no idea what I was gonna do."

"Well, what we need to do is get Pixie calm, probably get the rest of the guys over here and get to the bottom of this." Juice said. "Breathe, sweetheart." He reminded Pixie who nodded, trying to get control of everything again.

"Don't tell Clay, not yet." She murmured. "He'll think I ratted and I didn't. Oh god, I'm gonna end up in some hole on forty-four." Pixie shrank into herself.

"No!" All three men said at the same time, exchanging glances with each other.

"No, I am not lettin' tha' happen." Chibs said fiercely.

"We got you, Pixie, okay? We're _never_ going to let that happen." Juice said adamantly.

"Never, baby." Tig echoed, his blue eyes full of worry for Pixie and the club as she looked at them all, her own eyes huge and scared. Juice scooped up Pixie and took her to the bed where there was a dark red fluffy blanket over the duvet and sat Pixie down on it. The other two followed him and helped Pixie out of her jacket and boots before Juice got her to lay down and rolled her up in the blanket, turning her into a blanket burrito to help her deal with all the emotions of worry, fear and stress that she'd been holding down.

"Better?" He asked Pixie as she sat up in the blanket.

"Yeah." Pixie nodded. "Can we get a drink? My throat hurts." Pixie asked quietly. "Then I'll come clean."

"Hot choc?" Tig asked, kissing her cheek before wiping her face down with a tissue.

"Aye, that always makes her feel better." Chibs said fondly, picking Pixie up bridal style and carrying her downstairs in the blanket to the den, knowing this was going to be a long explanation and they may as well all be comfortable. Juice and Tig went to make the drinks and get snacks whilst Chibs cuddled her down on his lap on the couch.

"I'm sorry." Pixie said softly.

"Fer wha'?" Chibs' brow furrowed.

"Being a mess, I should be handling this better."

"Oi." Chibs held her chin. "Yer doin' tha' best ye can. We're here to pick up the pieces."

"I love you, dad." Pixie put her head on his shoulder.

"I love ye too, mo ghràdh, tha's never goin' ta change."

They stayed in comfortable silence just embracing each other until Tig and Juice returned with four hot chocolates in black Sons mugs with whipped cream, sprinkles and little pink marshmallows.

"Just the way you like it, darlin'." Tig put the two he was holding down on the coffee table.

"Thank you, Tiggy, I'm sorry I locked you up."

"It's okay, angel, I understand why you did it, you stopped me from having to do somethin' that I think would've torn me apart. I don't want to kill Ope, never have, never will. Yeah I thought he was a rat at first, but you showed me all the evidence." Tig explained as he sat down on the coffee table so he could see Pixie and Juice took the seat next to Chibs. Pixie wriggled her arms out of the burrito so she could drink, and when her voice wasn't so hoarse, she then unleashed everything she'd been holding back. Going from where she'd dropped the ash and heard the initial conversation to where she'd darted off to try and work out how to get more legitimate evidence, taking another sip of her drink. The others digested the information.

"Well ye did better than I would've, I think if I heard Clay wanted ta kill a brother, I would've burst the door down." Chibs mused.

"I wanted to too, but I was afraid he'd take me out. Still am." Pixie answered.

"Why?" Tig asked as put his mug down from taking a sip.

"Because I went to talk to Unser for the evidence and also I listened in on conversations." Pixie said. "I didn't rat when I went to Unser, I just said Opie was in trouble, Hale was there and it turns out he knew all along so he filled in the rest of the blanks. I feel like Clay's going to say I switched sides because I went to the cops."

"You were doing all you could to prevent Opie's death, it's understandable, and Unser's barely legit." Tig spoke up. "He's been on our books since day one, Clay can't blame you for talking to him, especially when he didn't want the evidence you found."

"Yeah, now I got fifty hours community service for nothin', he didn't even turn up in time to show Clay the evidence." Pixie sighed.

"Community service?!" Chibs asked.

"Yeah, I kinda sorta broke into the jail." Pixie winced. "That's why I was gone for so long, when I was riding around, I saw a police cruiser and I didn't think, just tailed it back to the police station and hid my bike. I remembered Jax said something about a back door to the jail for escorting convicts out, so I found it and picked the lock to get in." She explained as the three men looked at her in disbelief. "I wanted to get past Stahl and thought if I came through the jail, which is usually deserted, I could get to Unser without being seen by ATF. But I ended up being found by Hale and Unser who were down there talking when I got in."

Juice laughed in dismay. "Pixe! That's a _police_ building! You could've been arrested or shot."  
"I know, I wasn't exactly thinking, just running on impulse and panic." Pixie admitted. "Hale tried to arrest me, but I told him if he didn't help, I'd start talking about how he was screwing Stahl."

"Wait what? He's tappin' that?" Tig asked.

"Yeah, Jax saw them when he went to bust Cherry out of jail and talk to Luann and told me when we were hanging out."

"Fuck, I don't think I know what's worse, the fact that you blackmailed a cop, broke into jail, the fact that the jail was that easy to get into or that Hale's been doin' Stahl." Juice shook his head, taking a sip of his drink.

"I didn't know what else to do." Pixie said guiltily. "I couldn't lose another family member, that wasn't an option." She finished her explanation, going from how Unser had given her the helmet and handcuffs and said he'd get the evidence to Clay, and then continued up until where Chibs had found her on the driveway so everyone was on the same page. "I really hope Opie's got to safety, I'm so scared for him."

"Opie's strong, he'll protect his family." Chibs said firmly. "We'll see him tomorrow. An' although I'm glad you got him out safe, I'm not happy with what ye did and how ye did it. Ye could've gotten yerself killed, lass." Chibs spoke up, putting his hands on her shoulders and giving them a small shake. "Doesn't that even register with ye?"

Pixie shook her head. "I'd rather die saving a brother than live, knowing I could've done something to prevent it."

"No! Ye listen ta me, lass, I am not gonna lose ye." Chibs suddenly barked. "I can't lose ye. I _won't_ , and ye could've died so many different times tryna save Ope. Yer reckless behaviour _has_ to stop, Meggie." The use of her real name made Pixie's eyes widen as Chibs continued. "Ye are just as valid as everyone else, yer just as important, and ye have so much going fer ye. Ye cannae throw that away because ye didn't use yer brain. I love ye, we all love ye unconditionally! When are you gonna realise tha'?" Chibs's brown eyes were sparkling with the passion of his words. Pixie tried to put her head down but Chibs stopped her, putting a hand on her face. "Look at me, Meggie, ye are enough. Ye don't have ta be tha' best fer us to love and accept ye, we already do, faults an' all. So stop tha' recklessness. You have to learn when is enough, and when ye need ta stop."

Tears were rolling down Pixie's face as she looked at him before looking down at the blanket. "Nobody's ever told me to stop, Bruce always told me to keep pushing forward and do whatever it took to get the job done. Failure was never an option."

"What happened if you did?" Juice asked, putting a hand in hers.

"He'd get angry, say he was disappointed and that I let everyone down, that I was always making things harder because of my ADHD." Pixie said, her voice barely a whisper, she stroked her motorcycle tattoo, Bruce's face coming into her mind. "I love him and although he never expressed it until the day he died, I knew he loved me too, but he didn't know how to be a parent, or how to parent someone with ADHD. He just left me to my own devices when I got too much for him to deal with and used me for my skills in missions, but he was never one to accept failure. Not in my fighting matches, or my riding or my shooting or knife throwing, one wrong move and he'd explode."

Chibs swore, realising the immense pressure Pixie must have been under, and why she was such a perfectionist with her talents, but it also explained her reckless behaviour too, she had never had boundaries set in place, except for when things went wrong, he kissed Pixie's temple. "Bruce didn't know what he was doin', but I do. I said I'd be yer da' and I made a promise ta protect ye and love ye, and even if you fail, that is _never_ goin' ta change, but ye have ta realise that ye cannae do everything by yerself, and ye cannae go on taking risks, you're gonna get hurt one day."

"I know, I'm sorry." Pixie shook with a little sob. "I love you, dad, I love all of you, so, so much." Pixie breathed in and out before putting her head against Chib's shoulder.

"Hey, we're gonna be here for you, every step of the way, we have been since you got here, angel." Tig spoke up, holding Pixie's hand.

"Exactly, and I know you were too scared to tell us about Clay, but if you had, we would've supported you, just like we are doing now. And we're gonna do that tomorrow when we face him, and figure out where the hell we go from here." Juice added.

Tig scrubbed his face. "Where do we go from here? We have to tell the others, Piney and Jax don't even know and they're gonna cause a riot if we don't tell them and bring it up tomorrow."

"We call them over." Chibs nodded. "Happy too, he's basically a Charming lad now, and he loves Pixie just as much as we do."

"Bobby and Half-Sack are gonna be in for an interesting catch up session when they find out." Pixie smiled, wiping her face. "I think I'm okay enough to tell them what happened, and you guys know the rest so you can help if I struggle."

"Yeah, okay, let's do that next." Ting nodded.

"How do we do that without Clay finding out?" Pixie asked. "If Jax gets Gemma to look after Abel tonight, she'll tell Clay."

"We could go over there, if Gemma's gone home, after I got the dish powder for her, she said something about taking Clay back to theirs." Juice recalled.

"That could work." Pixie nodded, Juice texted Jax and the foursome anxiously awaited a response, which thankfully was answered swiftly by Jax.

"Coast's clear. I'll round up everyone, Jax says to come straight over." Juice announced.

Tig stood up and helped Pixie up and out of the blanket whilst Chibs and Juice cleared the mugs into the sink. "We're gonna have to have a little conversation about you taking my bike, baby." Tig put his hands on Pixie's waist.

"I know, I'm sorry, it's just yours is black and less noticeable than mine, I didn't scratch it or anything." Pixie told him. "I'll make it up to you."

Tig nodded. "I'm just so glad you're okay, sweetheart." He hugged her close and kissed the top of her head.

"I am too, I just wanted to keep you and Opie safe." Pixie mumbled into Tig's shirt. "I love you."

"I love you too, baby. You did good with Ope, and now we'll make sure you both stay safe, Chibs is right, you've done enough." Tig said gently. "Come on, let's figure this shit out."

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	87. Club Emergency

Jax opened his door as Juice, Tig, and Chibs pulled up on their bikes, with Pixie riding on the back of Tig's. She jumped off and removed her helmet before going to him whilst the others switched off their engines.

"What's up, Piglet?" Jax greeted, brow furrowed as he took in Pixie's demeanour, she wasn't bouncy or happy. There was no sparkle in her eyes and she didn't jump up for a hug. Instead, just leant her body against his, putting her face against his grey Sons hoodie.

"It's bad, Jax. Real bad shit." She mumbled.

"What do you mean? Juice just said it was an emergency." Jax urged, looking down at Pixie as she pulled away. There was a roar of engines and Happy and Piney both arrived on their bike and trike, pulling up and looking equally as confused and concerned as Jax.

"Everyone inside." Tig ordered as he and the rest of the Sons strode up the path to the door. Jax put his arm around Pixie, leading her indoors. It was a stark contrast to how she'd entered earlier that evening, surrounded by family, all relaxed and at ease. She'd hoped that something would actually hook up for once without her having to scramble to fix it. Now, in the aftermath, the house was still and quiet, apart from the low chatter of the Sons as everyone filed into the living room.

"Okay, someone better start talkin'." Jax said as everyone sat down, apart from Pixie who was anxiously hovering by the armchair at the head of the coffee table that Jax had settled himself into. Without giving it much conscious thought, the Sons had turned Jax's living room into a version of Church, they had Jax at the head, then Tig on his right, Chibs on his left, after them was Juice and Happy sharing the couch with the older Sons, and Piney at the other armchair opposite from Jax.

"Okay, I'm just gonna come out with it." Pixie nodded, biting her lip. "So, as we all know, we've been gettin' heat off of Agent Megabitch. Opie in particular."

"Where is he?" Jax asked her.

"Out of Charming, I don't know where. He's safe with his family though." Pixie answered.

"But wh-" Jax tried before Chibs cut him off.

"Let tha lass speak, Jackie Boy, she'll tell ye what's goin' on." Chibs said firmly.

"A'ight." Jax rubbed his face before running a hand through his hair and leaning back in his chair to look at Pixie.

"Okay, as we know, there was some tension between Clay and Opie when Ope was kidnapped by Stahl with Donna and the kids and taken to WitPro. What you guys don't know is that they wired Opie, they got his truck, bike and phone. Tig found the bugs in his phone and truck and told Clay, as per his orders. From then on, Clay convinced himself, with some persuasion by Stahl, that Opie was a rat. He ordered for Opie to be taken out tonight, after the party."

"Holy shit." Jax looked at Pixie with horror, his face mirrored by Piney and Happy. "How did you find out?"

Pixie explained what happened whilst she paced the room, going from start to finish whilst everyone stayed quiet, hearing her out and coming to their own conclusions.

Jax and Piney suddenly jumped up in anger. "Why didn't you tell me?" Jax strode towards Pixie, his blood boiling over the fact his best friend had almost been executed without him knowing until well after the fact.

"For that precise reason!" Pixie argued, gesturing to him and Piney. "You both have short fuses and you know it. If I'd have told you, either of you, you would've stormed in there and confronted Clay."

"You bet I would." Piney said fiercely.

"But if you had." Pixie said loudly, drawing their attention back. "Clay would've denied it or talked his way out, apologised to you guys maybe and then definitely done something' behind our backs before any of us would have been able to stop him."

"Pixie's right." Tig stood up, not liking how Jax was angrily staring at Pixie, getting in between them.

"Why did you agree to take my son out, you bastard?!" Piney suddenly lunged for Tig, Happy and Juice jumped up and did their best to push him back. Pixie got round Jax and jumped onto the coffee table so she was face to face with Piney.

"Listen to me, Pines! Tig didn't know, and then when he realised that Opie was innocent, Clay was manipulating him. I heard and saw it! You know how Clay gets when people try to challenge him! Tig had no choice, but to agree."

"I was never gonna go through with it, man." Tig spoke up. "I don't know what the fuck I would've done, rode around maybe and said I couldn't find his truck, or that Donna was driving, which she was. I was just trying to stall until I could figure out what the hell I was gonna do. I had plenty of opportunities to kill him during the Niners ambush today, I was supposed to, but I didn't."

"Oh yeah, the staged ambush." Jax growled. "Clay's been a fucking busy bastard."

"You know?" Tig whipped around.

"Pixie." Jax answered.

"I thought everyone knew about the Niners meeting, that Clay had at least told Jax, so I mentioned it by accident earlier." Pixie admitted. "You didn't tell me it was a secret."

" _Staged ambush_?" Piney all but yelled.

"Oh fuck." Tig shook his head. "Well this evenin' just keeps gettin' better and better."

"Start talkin'." Jax ordered. "Everyone sit down and let's just talk this out."

"Agreed." Pixie nodded. "The only two people at fault here are Clay and Stahl. Tig was following orders."

"Which I thought were bullshit, but the way, but we were already speaking to Laroy when I got told the full extent of the plan, so it wasn't like I could do anything." Tig said as he sat down on the couch again and Piney and Jax seated themselves too, Pixie got off the coffee table. "Clay's plan was to off Alvarez and Opie at the same time." Tig explained, rubbing his chin, Pixie came to sit on the arm of the sofa next to him, rubbing Tig's back, worried about what he was divulging to the club. "We went to Laroy and Clay told him where we'd be dropping the guns and the money. Plan was for the Niners to wait until Jax and Clay got out of the way of the Mayans with the gun haul, then they'd come in and execute as many Mayans as they could, and in the chaos, Clay would shoot Alvarez. Then over at the money drop, same thing was supposed to happen, except I had orders to kill Ope in that chaos, but he saved my life, and I didn't want to harm a brother. Plus it was a motherfucking doll warehouse of all things and I just wanted to get away from all the beady little eyes and dismembered baby dolls." Tig explained. "Both sites went wrong, the Niners came early for both, trying to take out the most important Sons and Mayans, I think so they could cripple us both and do a hostile takeover or some shit."

"Shit makes sense now." Jax said after a moment. "Alvarez got shot in the thigh and Clay got pinned, I had to get the van and get the fuck outta there."

"Jesus." Chibs shook his head. "There should've been backup."  
"Exactly, we could have very easily lost our pres', VP, Sarge, and Opie, and Clay isn't even that bothered about it." Pixie shook her head. "Asshole."

"So where does that leave the club?" Happy spoke up for the first time.

"I dunno man, do we call another Charter for help?" Jax asked.

"No, this is our shit, we gotta confront Clay." Piney growled. "I want answers."

"Does he still think Opie's a rat?" Juice asked.

"I've heard nothing from either Unser or Hale." Pixie said, she reached into her pocket and pulled out Tig's phone, suddenly remembering that she still had it. "Sorry, Tiggy." She passed it over to him.

"How did you...? Never mind that's a whole different conversation." Tig shook his head, switching the phone back on. The group listened to the cheery high-pitched welcome tone, followed by continuous beeps of messages and missed call notifications. "They're all from Clay and Unser, hang on." Tig scrolled through them before nodding.

"Clay called off the hit about the same time we made you hot chocolate, baby. I saw the time on the microwave. At least Unser's told him and it looks like he believes now."

"Well by that point, Donna would've been long gone, seeing as she was in the truck." Pixie said exasperatedly.

"We just gotta hope Clay didn't have a backup plan and nobody else got hurt." Juice said.

"Ring Clay, tell him you didn't do it because you got held up by Pixie or somethin'. See what he says." Jax suggested.

"A'ight." Tig got up and kissed Pixie on the cheek before getting up and going outside to phone Clay.

"How are you doin', darlin'?" Piney asked after a moment of silence. Abel started crying from the other room, so Jax went to go comfort him.

"Head's going and million miles an hour." Pixie sighed. "I just wanted to keep Opie and everybody safe, and now there's a shit storm."

Piney stood up and beckoned her over so he could envelope her in a huge warm hug.

"You did just that, darlin', and so much more, okay?" Piney said gently. "And what you did for my family tonight, my only son... I can't thank you enough, I just wish I'd known sooner so I could've shot Clay earlier."

"Piney!" Pixie squeaked, looking up at him. "You can't kill Clay, at least not until we've heard him out."

Sensing Pixie was struggling Juice stood up and came to her side, putting a hand in hers. "Yeah, he fucked up, big time, like colossal fuck up of the century. But he's the president, he's the figurehead and he's the only one that can actually speak with Alvarez and Laroy and keep the war out of Charming. Jax is doing his best, but he's still learnin' and Alvarez and Laroy wouldn't be comfortable talking to him. Things could turn into a massive shit storm if they found out we had Clay executed, or that Clay had died. It could mean the end for the Charming Sons. They could take us all down, easy, we have no weapons, no money, Clay's all we got other than each other." Juice explained, looking slightly terrified of the way Piney's face was reddening and he was staring daggers into him

"He tried to have Opie killed!" Piney bellowed.

"I know! I was there!" Pixie yelped. "Please, Piney, just take a deep breath, and think for a second, don't go charging, not yet."

"Lass is right, Piney." Chibs stood up. "We can't lose him, not yet."

"Agreed." Happy joined in.

"We're not saying you can't have vengeance, or that we're not on your side, because we are, Piney, okay? We want justice for Opie, it's horrific that we're even at this point, but we can't make a decision that we'll regret later down the line." Pixie said, taking Piney's hand. "You know me, Pines, you know I'm the least likeliest person to defend Clay, I'm not taking his side, none of us are."  
Piney breathed heavily as he looked at Pixie and the others. Rage was in every atom of his body, all he could see was Clay's smug face, he was going to get away with almost killing Opie because of his stupid fucking patch. Piney snapped, turning and slamming his fist into Jax's wall. The plaster broke through with a bang and Piney's fist disappeared into the drywall. Jax shot out of the nursery as Tig threw open the back door, both of them rushing into the main room to see what the hell just happened.

"Shit, Piney!" Jax swore, as Piney withdrew his bloody, plaster-dusted hand, a chunk of plaster fell off the wall, making the hole bigger.

"Let's get you to the sink, c'mon tough guy." Pixie said gently, taking Piney's arm and tugging the shocked man into the kitchen with Chibs, both of them concerned for Piney's well being.

☠️☠️☠️

After patching up Piney's hand and talking him down, the group sat down, coming up with an action plan for the next morning, they'd all go down to the clubhouse and call Clay into a meeting, wanting to hear his side and see if he was genuinely remorseful before they took further action. Satisfied that that was all they could do for the moment, they sent Piney home with an escort from Juice to make sure he didn't try anything with Clay until they'd had a chance to confront him the next day. Pixie offered to help Jax patch up his wall tomorrow and helped him feed Abel and put him back to bed. The other Sons drank beer, smoked and digested everything that had happened that evening. Pixie went out to the front step, needing some air and space to think. After a while Tig appeared and sat down next to her, putting a blanket he'd borrowed off Jax around Pixie's shoulders to fend off the slight chill to the wind.

"We gotta talk, baby doll." He said after a moment, running a hand through his curls as he stared up at the night sky with Pixie.

"I know." Pixie put her chin on her knees, hugging her legs to her. "What would you have done if I hadn't handcuffed you?"

"No clue, darlin'. I wouldn't have killed him, I know that for damn sure." Tig said fiercely, Pixie watched his face, seeing nothing but truth. "I did think about laying my bike down, saying I got hit or slid or some shit."

Pixie's eyes widened. "You could've hurt yourself, Tiggy!" She grabbed his arm.

"I know, I didn't know what else to do, and I wanted to tell you so badly." Tig hung his head. "I just thought you'd hate me if I did."

"Never, Tiggy, _never_!" Pixie said vehemently. "I knew anyways, and it didn't change how I felt. I could see how Clay was manipulating you, I would have seen that even if I hadn't heard the plan. He manipulates everyone."

"I know, I panicked, we both did."

"Yeah, hence the whole handcuff thing." Pixie said. "I feel so bad for that, you hate not being in control, and I took that from you."  
Tig stroked Pixie's face. "I was furious at first, when you left, pulled at that rail for ten minutes just shouting every curse word I could think of, and I know I lot." Tig explained. "Then once I calmed down, I realised this was probably the best option, seeing as I didn't have to lie to Clay and that I just had to put faith into whatever you were up to and wait for you to come home."

"I didn't even know what I was doing really, I'd just taken the cuffs and the helmet from Unser as a backup option, I never intended to use them, but Unser decided to take his sweet time with getting the evidence to Clay."

"Was taking my bike part of that backup plan?" Tig raised an eyebrow.

"If I say yes are you gonna get mad?" Pixie scrunched her nose.

"Goddamit, baby!" Tig shook his head.

"How come you're more mad about me taking your bike than you are at being handcuffed?" Pixie asked, sitting up a little.

"Well, that wasn't exactly my first rodeo with being handcuffed, darlin', and I'm not just talkin' about being arrested." Tig admitted with a bit of a smirk.

"Kinky." Pixie giggled.

"I know." Tig smiled. "But my bike, that's my whole life, it's a part of me, I need it to do my job, to have my freedom, and also to follow you when you start causing chaos." Tig gently nudged her. "If I took your bike, you'd have had the same reaction."

Pixie nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I get you, no harm came to your bike, there were two almost incidents, but I kept it safe."  
Tig's eyebrows raised. "Start talkin', doll."  
"I braked too hard when I got to Opie and almost tipped, and then when I was trying to evade Chibbie, I sorta ran a red light and zipped past an SUV, I was close enough to feel the heat from the hood." Pixie said quietly.

"Kitten!" Tig said in exasperation. "You need to be more careful!"

"If you get a ticket, I'll pay for it." Pixie said. "I am sorry, I was just trying to keep everyone safe."

"But you forgot about yourself, you can't keep us safe if you lay your bike down on the road, or in this case _my_ bike which makes the whole situation even worse."  
"I know, I'm sorry." Pixie hid her face in the blanket.

Tig inhaled and exhaled before he put his arms around Pixie and pulled her to his side, burying his face in her hair for a second and kissing her. "Hey, I love you, okay?"

Pixie nodded her head. "I love you too." She lifted her face out of the blanket in exchange for snuggling against Tig's chest.

"I think, out of everything I've felt tonight, my main feeling is relief." Tig pulled Pixie a little tighter to him. "Relief that you're okay, and you're not hurt, well, not hurt physically. I'm happy that I get to have you back in my arms where I can keep you safe too, and I'm so fucking relieved that Opie and Donna and the kids all got out tonight unharmed and safe too. I didn't think that was going to happen."

"Me too." Pixie mumbled before she sat up a little so she could see Tig's face. "I was worried you were going to be mad and that you'd feel like I betrayed your trust by doing what I did. I genuinely didn't expect this outcome, but I'm relieved and happy that we are where we are, and that you're safe. I don't know what I'd do without you, Tiggy."

"Neither, angel. You make me want to be a better person, _you_ make me a better person."

"You do too." Pixie kissed him. "You got me to feel confident in my body for the first time, you made me feel love when I'd written that off because of the way I am and because of who I am. You made me feel like it's okay to be vulnerable and it's okay to let someone else lead, you taught me how to trust again." Pixie said truthfully, kissing Tig's cheek and neck.

Tig looked down at her, dumbfounded. He never thought he'd actually impact someone in that way, or someone would talk about him like that. He was used to superficial relationships and feeling as though it was all just physical intimacy, so to hear Pixie talk about how he'd helped her and realised that she depended on him just as much as he depended on her, it helped to further solidify in his mind that Pixie was his one and only. He felt his heart warm, thinking about how much Pixie had grown over the span of her time with him and the other Sons and realising that he was partly responsible for that positive change. "You taught me how to open up and trust again too, and so much more, doll. I didn't even think it was possible to love someone as much as I love you, even if you drive me insane."

Pixie giggled. "You're the one that picked me."

Tig chuckled. "Excuse me, if I'm not mistaken, little miss, you're the one that kissed me."

"You took me out on that diner date first." Pixie argued playfully.

"Hey, that could've been an outing with friends, I could have easily done that with Juice or one of the other Sons."

"Oh, so you would've slipped Juice a note calling him the 'prettiest guy in the word'?"

Tig laughed properly, the tension easing. "Well, Juice is very good looking." Tig teased.

"That's my brother you're crushing on!" Pixie laughed.

"Gonna pretend I didn't hear that." A gruff voice from behind them made Pixie and Tig whip around to see Happy leaning against the front door frame.

"Oh hey, Hap." Pixie greeted. "Apparently Tig's into Juice." She joked.

Happy chuckled and shrugged. "Good lookin' guy."

"See!" Tig laughed. "Guessing you wanna talk to Pix?"

"Yeah, shift, asshole." Happy grunted lightheartedly.

"A'ight, a'ight, don't get your panties in twist, Killer." Tig chuckled as he kissed Pixie's temple and stood up.

"Only panties I got twisted are your mom's." Happy grinned, making Tig chuckle harder as he playfully shoved Happy.

"Oh yeah? Well I got-"

" _Tiggy_." Pixie turned around fully.

"Well I got nothin' but love and respect for my girl." Tig finished with an eyebrow raised hopefully at Pixie.

"Nice save." Happy laughed as Tig shook his head and went inside, closing the door.

"You guys argue like twelve year olds." Pixie told him as Happy sat down on the step and lit up a cigarette. Pixie rearranged the blanket so she could put it over Happy's shoulders too as he was in just a grey tank top with a faded devil on it.

"Weeble." Happy grunted nudging Pixie with his shoulder.

Pixie giggled at the reference. "We should get Abel some Weebles, start off a tradition."

"I'll teach him how to throw 'em." Happy grinned before he put his arm around her and rubbed his cheek against the top of Pixie's head. "How are you doin'?"

"Better, I'm still scared about facing Clay tomorrow, but that's future Pixie's problem." Pixie said resting her head on Happy's shoulder.

"Don't be. I won't let him hurt you." Happy said fiercely. "We all want answers, and we're gonna get 'em."

"Yeah, I just hope my patches survive it. Clay'll want me out."

"Rest of us don't, it won't pass." Happy said firmly. "Was Ope okay?"

"Yeah, scared and angry I think, but okay, he needs to be protected too."

"He will be." Happy nodded. "Stars are bright."

Pixie looked up at the stars too. "Yeah, wonder what they're thinking about this mess."

"Free entertainment." Happy murmured, making Pixie smile.

"You reckon they're just eating popcorn and watching the show unfold?"

"Mmhm. Freeloading sparkly bastards."

Pixie giggled. "I like your view of the world."

"Like yours too." Happy took a slow drag of his cigarette. "You scared me tonight."

"Yeah?" Pixie said a little guiltily.

"Mmhm. First when Juice sent the text saying something was wrong with you and to go to Jax's. Then hearing what you'd been dealing with and what happened tonight."

"Sorry, Hap." Pixie said quietly.

"Main thing is that you and Ope are safe." Happy said gruffly, rubbing his cheek against her head again. "I wish I could've helped you."

"You did, Hap, just having your support and your love helped get me through it." Pixie said honestly. She felt Happy smile against her and he cuddled her closer.

"You do the same for me. I missed having my cartoon buddy back in Tacoma."

Pixie giggled and smiled. Whenever Happy was in town and Pixie was free, they'd go to their shared dorm in the clubhouse, change into comfy sweats and find a load of snacks and cereal and just watch cartoons for an afternoon. They wouldn't necessarily talk, just watched along and laughed at the bizarre scenes, it was one of Pixie's favourite things as she got to see Happy totally relaxed and at ease. He'd open up more and talk about things on his mind that he wouldn't tell anyone else. It made Pixie feel valued and reminded her of just how important Happy was to her and vice versa.

"Me too, you should get your butt back to Charming more often, tough guy." Pixie grinned.

"Want to, figuring shit out." Happy nodded. "Mom's doing a little better."

"Are you going to see her soon?"

Another nod. "Want you to come, Friday afternoon."

Pixie felt honoured. "Absolutely. I love Paola." She said honestly. You'd never have guessed that Paola was Happy's mother, She was an elderly Latina woman around Pixie's height, with a head of long grey curls, her face was rounded and joyful-looking with bright lively brown eyes and a smile that reminded you of warm hugs. She was delighted to find that Pixie spoke a little bit of spanish, even if it was rough, and was determined to hold conversations with her that way, much to the disdain of Happy, who only knew Spanish swear words, which he'd interject into the conversations when he felt like his mum wasn't paying him enough attention. It would invariably end with a slap upside the head from Paola, who'd then kiss the top of it and coo at him like he was a child. Pixie's quiet theory was that she still saw Happy as a child, Paola had Alzheimer's and a heart condition, and each time they went, Happy would have to remind her that he was her son before Paola's face would light up and she'd kiss his cheeks.

"She loves you too." Happy said. "I love you too."

"Love you too, big bro."

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️


	88. Presidential Intervention

** WARNING: Implied smut at start of chapter. **

Pixie watched the sunrise through the white wooden blinds on the bedroom window she was facing. Tig was curled around her, occasionally nuzzling her neck in his sleep, his grip around her middle tight and secure. Pixie let him sleep for a while longer, they'd both been up most of the night, after coming home from Jax's house. They'd talked until both of them had drifted off into a light sleep, Pixie's had been plagued by nightmares almost immediately. Mixtures of Opie getting killed and Highton had caused her to cry out in her sleep, crying and twisting around in the covers until Tig had woken her up, cradling her and kissing the nightmares away. Then they'd laid together whilst he'd whispered sweet nothings to her until Pixie's nerves had calmed enough for her to drift back to sleep. It hadn't been a peaceful or restful one though, and Pixie felt like she hadn't slept at all. She stretched her stiff joints, causing Tig to stir behind her.

"Baby?" He said, his voice slurred by sleep.

"I'm okay, Tiggy, just stretching. Sleep for a little longer." Pixie soothed, stroking his arm that was around her torso.

"I'm up, I'm up." Tig yawned, stretching too before rubbing his face. He reversed a little way on the bed and turned Pixie so she was laying on her back. He bent down and kissed her. "You sleep okay?"

"No, you?"

"Nope, feel like I've got a hangover and I didn't even get to have any fun beforehand." Tig grumbled.

"Aw." Pixie crooned, stroking his face and gently tugging him down for another kiss, wrapping her leg over his hip. "You need paracetamol? Last night was definitely not fun."

"With breakfast yeah." Tig nodded, his hands roamed Pixie's skin, feeling her bare torso and the curve of her ass. He stooped his head so he could kiss across her chest. "There were so many points that I could have lost you, baby."

"I know, I was just trying to look out for everyone, I'm sorry." Pixie murmured, running her hand through his hair and down his back, she loved when they cuddled like this, just taking comfort in each other's bodies, soothing and calming each other. "I felt horrible leaving you in the bathroom, but if I hadn't, you'd have been at risk."

"I had to sit there for half an hour. Saw the times on the digital clock on my nightstand. Did you know we have three hundred white bathroom floor tiles?" Tig growled, kissing her neck and gently biting her shoulder to show his exasperation. He wasn't really mad, just venting the last of his frustrations out, and Pixie sensed this.

Pixie squirmed. "Sorry." She kissed him. "I wish things had played out differently, that Unser had actually done his job and turned up on time. Things would be so much easier, but they aren't."

"I know, babe." Tig kissed her neck.

"I want to make it up to you, Tiggy." Pixie crooned, stroking his hair.

"Oh yeah, how?" Tig gently bit her chest and then kissed her there.

"I'll show you, if you're interested?" Pixie smiled. Tig caught the mischievous glint in her eyes and his eyebrow raised.

"Should I be worried?" Tig crooned, biting the shell of Pixie's ear, making the butterflies in her stomach take hold.

"Nope, just lay back and relax." Pixie kissed him before pushing his shoulders until he rolled back onto the bed. From there, Pixie began wriggling down his body before giving him a wink and pulling the duvet over her head. Tig lay there confused for a second before he felt Pixie rake her nails gently across his thighs and lick a stripe up his member making him moan. Tig settled against the pillows, hands fisting the duvet as Pixie set to work. As Tig's eyes rolled back, he thought that if this was what he got for putting up with Pixie's antics, he definitely considered it a fair trade.

☠️☠️☠️

Once Tig had had his fun and then repaid the favour whilst he was listening to Pixie's squeals and moans, he carried her into the shower where they got clean and ready for the day. Even though they were both calmer, both had a nervous feeling in their stomachs as they prepared to face Clay with the others. When she was dry, Pixie dressed in a large tie-dyed comfy hoodie with a unicorn on, a pair of skinny black jeans, black creepers with a skull and crossbones, and a black cross ring. She then french braided her hair into two long plaits and added a pastel flower crown. 

Once she was done, she wandered downstairs in search of something sugary to wake her up. Tig came down a moment later in a black t-shirt, blue jeans, and his usual gold rings and wallet chains. He found Pixie sat cross-legged on the counter next to the toaster, watching it impatiently.

"You seriously love those pop-tart things?" Tig asked as he stretched his shoulders and started up the coffee maker.

"Mmhm." Pixie answered around a mouthful of strawberry tart, she'd given up waiting for the ones in the toaster and was now eating them straight from the packet. Tig confiscated the box and put it on top of the refrigerator where she couldn't reach.

"Too many and you go psycho, especially when you're sleepy."

"Spoilsport." Pixie pouted at him.

"Hey." Tig growled playfully, smiling as he came over. "You asking for a spankin', hm?" Tig teased, putting his hands on Pixie's hips and nuzzling her neck and ear.

Pixie's face flushed and she giggled, putting her arms around his neck. "Nuh-uh. You had your fun upstairs." Pixie giggled, recalling how after Tig had brought her to an orgasm, he'd then flipped her over and spanked her for scaring him before kissing and biting over Pixie's ass.

"Hm, you enjoyed it too." Tig chuckled, recalling Pixie's giggles as she squirmed under him.

"True." Pixie smiled and kissed his neck as the Poptarts finally made their appearance from the toaster. Tig swiped one of them from the plate, taking a bite as he poured coffee into his mug.

"My tart!" Pixie pouted at him. "I thought you didn't like them."

"The occasional one is nice, besides you already had one from the packet, so you've not lost out."

Pixie wasn't so sure, sticking her tongue out playfully at Tig as she slid off the counter and went to the fridge to grab orange juice. "You still need paracetamol?"

"Yeah, feels like I've been hit by two by four." Tig grumbled. "Weirds me out you call it 'paracetamol' and not 'aspirin'."

"It's a British thing." Pixie commented as she opened the old metal army storage tin that Tig kept the medications in and passed him the packet.

"You worried about today?" Tig asked as he finished off the tart and came to put his hands on Pixie's hip as she poured herself a glass of juice and took a bite of her tart.

"I'm resigned to it at this point. There's going to be a confrontation, I can feel it, this is Clay we're talking about."

"Yeah, we'll keep you safe, darlin'." Tig kissed her cheek. They finished up breakfast pretty quickly after that and got on Tig's bike, riding to the clubhouse together seeing as Pixie's bike had been left up there.

Once they arrived, they were met by Juice and Chibs, anxiously waiting to see what state Pixie was in that morning. She hugged them both and sat down on the benches with them, taking in the morning air whilst the other three smoked.

"Unicorn, very cute." Juice said playfully nudging Pixie to get her to smile.

"Hey, just be glad I didn't turn up in my pj's." Pixie giggled.

"Didn't sleep well?"

"I think I'm running on two hours of actual sleep, the rest was nightmares." Pixie murmured, setting her head down on Juice's shoulder.

He put an arm around her and kissed her forehead. "Poor kiddo, I didn't sleep good either, too restless. Ended up just playing World of Warcraft."

"Good game." Pixie nodded, yawning. An old-looking blue Ford sedan rolled into the lot and halted outside the clubhouse. A young woman in a black sundress with little skulls on got out and brushed back her platinum blonde hair, pushing her chic sunglasses higher up her nose.

"Uh miss? I was wondering if you could help." The woman approached.

"Car trouble?" Pixie slid off the picnic bench, coming to have a look. The passenger, a tall guy with blonde hair and a red baseball cap got out and leaned against the car.

"Yeah, it's rattling." The woman said, she sounded familiar, but Pixie couldn't place where.

"Okay, well the garage isn't open yet, but if you drive it up to the bays I'll sign you in." Pixie said automatically, pointing up the lot. She took a few steps away before a lightbulb went off in her head. Pixie whipped around and ran up to the woman as she took off her sunglasses, smiling at Pixie. " _Cherry_?!" Pixie exclaimed.

"Hey gurl!" Cherry giggled back. She looked almost unrecognizable, her long brown hair was now short in a wavy platinum blonde bob, she'd done her makeup differently to normal, highlighting her cheekbones and using a lighter smokey eye and a red lip, it had been enough to fool Pixie certainly. "Actually it's Charlie now." Cherry giggled as Pixie threw her arms around her shoulders and hugged her tight as they jumped up and down together, squealing.

"I can't believe you're here! What about the cops?"

"If they ask, I'll just show them this little thing." Cherry said pulling out her purse from her small shoulder bag. From that she pulled out a legitimate driver's license with her picture post-makeover and with the name 'Charlene Epps'. Pixie did a double-take at the last name.

"You got married?!" Pixie suddenly looked up at the passenger who was chuckling as he lifted the baseball cap up so Pixie could clearly see Half-Sack's face.

"It was a quiet one, just us, the vicar, and a moose." He explained before Pixie jumped the hood of the car and launched herself into his arms. "Hey lil' sis."

"Half-Sack!" Pixie squealed, completely overjoyed at finally seeing her brother again, holding him tightly as a few happy tears escaped.

"Ey! Half-Sack's back!" Chibs cheered as he, Juice and Tig got up from the benches to greet him and Cherry.

"You got buff." Pixie giggled, feeling Half-Sack's bicep as he put Pixie on the ground to hug Juice and the others.

"Fuck all else to do in Canada other than go hiking and try not to be attacked by the wildlife." He commented.

"It was gorgeous, you enjoyed yourself." Cherry playfully scolded him. "We absolutely loved it up there, but came back home as soon as we got my new birth certificate, passport and ID's. If anyone asks I was born in Pennsylvania on the eighth of august nineteen-eighty-three, and my maiden name was 'Wallace'."

"Noted." Pixie smiled. "I'm so glad you're both back." Pixie said, giving Cherry another excited hug.

"Yeah, we heard about what happened, Juice called us whilst we were on the road, we put my bike in a trailer and Charlie and I tag-teamed driving." Half-Sack explained. "Twenty-seven hours driving total, but we did stop off at a few motels."

"Damn, where's your bike now?" Tig asked.

"Our place, we dropped it off before coming here, wanted to get here as soon as possible to support Pixie and Opie." Half-Sack explained. "I'll have to unload it later but it was too much of hassle to figure out now." He reached in through the open back window and pulled out his kutte, putting it on. Pixie smiled seeing him fully patched.

"I'll park this beast up and then get the coffee going, looks like none of us have actually slept well." Cherry commented, looking at the exhausted Sons around her.

"Yup, last night was a shit show. So do you want to be called 'Charlie' now? Or are you still into 'Cherry'?" Pixie asked, intrigued.

"I actually got used to being called 'Charlie' in Canada, and I like that 'Charlene' means, 'free woman'."

"That's really cool, okay, Charlie." Pixie grinned as Charlie got into the car and parked it up. Jax and Piney arrived soon after and were equally as excited to have Half-Sack back in the ranks, welcoming him back with hugs and affection masked as playful-insults. The group then headed inside to talk in a group before Clay arrived, giving Half-Sack all the details he missed and bringing him up to speed on the plan. Pixie realised they were a Son short and went to her dorm to see if Happy had actually woken up yet. She found him laying on his front with his head under his pillow, still fast asleep wearing grey sweatpants.

"Hap, you gotta wake up, big guy." Pixie called from the doorway. When he didn't stir she closed the door behind her and walked up to the bed, poking Happy in the side.

"Fuck off." Happy slurred, half-asleep, his voice muffled by the pillow.

"No you." Pixie replied with a giggle. "Get up or I'm gonna start jumping on the bed." Pixie warned. When there was no reply and no movement, Pixie slipped off her creepers and clambered onto the bed. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Pixie giggled with each enthusiastic bounce on the bed, jolting Happy as the bed rocked. He picked up the pillow that had been covering his head and smacked Pixie with it, knocking her off-balance.

With a squeal, Pixie tumbled over onto the bed. "Meanie." Pixie giggled when Happy growled and tickled her, making them both laugh.

"Brat." Happy quipped back. He let Pixie sit up so she could hug him good morning.

"Put on a hoodie or something and come join us, we're going over what we're gonna say to Clay." Pixie told him.

"Hm." Happy grunted as Pixie got up off the bed and readjusted her flower headband in the mirror. He got up too, stretching and yawning before grabbing deodorant and a black hoodie, putting both on and pixie passed him a pair of socks from the dresser before she leant against it and watched as Happy slid them on and his black military boots, not bothering with the laces as he stood up and ambled to the door. They walked out together, with Happy putting his arm around Pixie until he spotted Half-Sack and then he grinned widely and beckoned him over for a hug. "Glad to have you back."

"Glad to be back." Half-Sack grinned before the trio sat down with the others. Once everyone was up to date, they drank and smoked whilst they waited for Clay to arrive. Pixie's heart sank when she heard the familiar rumble of his engine as the President gunned into the lot, everyone turned to face the door in anticipation and Chibs put his hand in Pixie's sensing her anxiety skyrocketing. Clay sauntered in, looking laid back and with a fat cigar in his mouth. He halted in the doorway as he spotted everyone and took off his sunglasses.

"What is this? Brady Bunch family meeting?"

"More like a presidential intervention." Pixie answered.

"We need to talk." Jax stood up. "About what happened last night."

"Oh yeah?"Clay grunted.

"My son was almost killed last night, that all you got to say?" Piney suddenly stood up angrily.

Clay breathed out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alright. Let's talk, everybody in church." The group stood up and Clay noticed Half-Sack for the first time. "When did you get here?"

"About half an hour ago." Half-Sack commented.

"Well, welcome back then." Clay grinned, patting him on the back as Half-Sack manoeuvred past him to get the phone box with Pixie.

"Thanks, dude."Half-Sack shrugged nonchalantly. Pixie smiled seeing how confident Half-Sack was now. Whatever happened in Canada, did him a world of good. As the group started filing into church, a police cruiser drove into the lot, and Pixie spotted Unser at the wheel. Without giving it a second thought, Pixie suddenly turned on her heels and ran out into the lot, her anger at Unser suddenly coming to a head. He barely had time to get out of the car before Pixie was storming across the lot, her eyes like gunsights.

"Where the fuck were you?" Pixie yelled out.

Unser backed away from Pixie a little before he had to forcibly remind himself that he was a cop, and shouldn't really be seen being intimidated by a five-foot-two woman in a unicorn hoodie and pink kutte. "I'm sorry, okay? We got held up."

"You had the whole fucking afternoon and the evening to find the evidence." Pixie shook her head.

"Pixie." Jax's warning voice sounded from behind her as he caught up with Pixie.

"I know, I'm sorry." Unser put his hands up to shoulder-height in a surrender motion.

"A man's life was on the line! Doesn't that register with you? What the fuck were you doing?" Pixie hissed as Jax put a hand on her shoulder to keep her from attacking.

"We had to wait for Stahl and her cronies to beat it before we could find the paperwork and copy it to give it to Clay like you wanted."

"And you didn't think to call Clay and tell him to hold fire whilst you got the evidence?" Pixie asked. Unser opened and closed his mouth like a fish. "Unbelievable. Un-fucking-believable." Pixie seethed. "If you think I'm doing my community service, you can think again, you didn't hold up your end of the deal."

"You broke into the jail, and Deputy Hale witnessed it." Unser tried to argue. "You have to respect the law."

Pixie shook her head. "No, those badges?" Pixie pointed at Unser's chest. "They have about as much weight to me as the plastic ones on a kid's costume. You could've let Opie die and I had to intervene, shows how much respect you have for us."

Unser looked pleadingly at Jax who shook his head. "Kid's right, Unser." Jax agreed.

"Look I want to make this right, why I came down here to see Clay." Unser said.

"Well you'll have to wait your turn, we're about to have a discussion." Pixie huffed.

"I've got all morning," Unser said, then cleared his throat, "then I kinda need to process you into the system for your community service."

Pixie, who had turned away from him to walk to the clubhouse, turned back, broke free from Jax, and stormed forwards. She yanked Unser's badge off of his shirt and threw it as hard as she could like a baseball up the lot, Jax and Unser watched it fly with shock. "No. Fucking. Chance." Pixie growled. "I don't trust you, I don't like you, and I'm not doing your service, you almost let my brother die." And with that, Pixie stormed back to the clubhouse.

Jax and Unser exchanged a look. "They make 'em extra feisty in England, huh?" Unser commented.

"You seriously want to try and put Pixie in the back of your cruiser and take her back to the station?" Jax raised an eyebrow.

Unser weighed his options, there was no way Pixie was going to go willingly, she was more than upset with him, and she had a point. "Perhaps I'll pretend I didn't see her." Unser said with a resigned sigh.

"Yeah." Jax nodded.

"How close was I to the hit and visiting Clay?"

"Over an hour. Donna would've been long gone." Jax frowned.

"Donna?"

"She was in the truck last night, driving it. She could've been shot."

"Shit." Unser shook his head. "What's gonna happen now?"

"We're gonna talk to Clay, hear him out. Not sure what's happening after."

"Okay." Unser nodded. "Right, well, er, I'm gonna get my badge, and then coffee?"

"Fresh pot in the clubhouse." Jax nodded before turning and walking indoors where Juice was calming Pixie down before she went into church. "You see Unser's badge fly?" Jax chuckled.

"Yeah." Juice smiled, seeing the humour in it. "That thing flew like a missile." He shook his head at Pixie. "You're lucky Chibs didn't see that."

Pixie could practically hear the swearing from Chibs. "Yeah, maybe not mention it to him, we have enough to discuss as it is."

"You ready?" Jax asked.

"Nope, but let's do this thing." Pixie answered. The trio walked to the door where Tig was waiting holding a lockbox full of everyone's weapons.

"This is a no-arms meetin'. knives and guns." He told them. Jax and Juice took off their knives from their belts and put them in the box, Pixie did the same with the two from her holster.

"All of 'em, baby." Tig chided. Pixie huffed and bent down, pulling up her trouser-leg and removing the one attached to her prosthetic, putting it in the box. "Any more?" Tig raised a suspicious eyebrow. Pixie reached into her inner kutte pockets pulling out a butterfly knife, a small can of mace, a pair of silver knuckledusters, and a silver zippo. Juice, Jax and Tig looked at her in astonishment.

"What? You can never be too prepared." Pixie shrugged.

"Why's the zippo counting as a weapon?" Juice asked. Pixie took it out of the box, and flicked it open. Instead of the usually small flame, a much larger aggressive one came out before she snapped it shut again.

"That's why." Pixie said with a grin. "I like fire, sue me." She giggled as the three men digested what they'd just seen. Tig snapped the box shut, locking it and then ushered everyone in. Half-Sack was sat where Bobby usually sat and there was a spare seat next to Piney which Pixie sat down in. Once everyone was settled, Jax turned to look at Clay.

"Two days ago, you sat there. You made me a promise that Opie was safe. Now I'm askin' you, brother-to-brother, father-to-son, just tell me the truth and I'll accept it. Whatever it is. Just be honest with me. Did you try to kill Ope?"

Clay looked down at the table and then back up at Jax and the rest of the Sons. He opened his mouth to speak and Pixie saw Clay's face, recognizing he was about to lie. "Swear on the Reaper, boss." Pixie spoke up.

"What?" He looked at her.

"If you're about to tell the truth, put your hand on the Reaper and swear on this club, this family and everything it stands for." Pixie challenged him, staring into Clay's blue eyes. She saw a flash of something before he went back to neutrality. Pixie replayed it in her mind, questioning it. Had she seen a brief moment of defeat?

"What actions I took were for the good of Samcro." Clay said carefully, choosing his words, testing the room, like a snake tasting the air with his tongue.

"Bullshit." Piney growled. "Everyone knows that you put out a hit on Ope last night, but we want to hear your side of it." He said, getting right down to business.

The air seemed to freeze as everyone held their breath to see how Clay would respond to being called out so out-rightly.

"Alright." Clay nodded. " what makes you think that?"

Jax looked to Pixie to see if she was ready to speak. She nodded her head at him and looked at Clay. "I found out."

"Found out what? Start talkin'." Clay growled. Pixie nodded and recited her story to Clay, it had become almost rehearsed from how many times she'd had to tell people what happened. The group sat in silence as Pixie rattled through it, coming up to the conclusion. When she finished, Clay shook his head, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"I had strong evidence that Opie had turned, and so I acted on that. Anyone in my position would have done the same. Like I said before, I did what I did to protect the club, to protect this family." Clay said, catching eyes with everyone at the table.

"You had two bugs! You were going to kill my son over two bugs." Piney growled, staring fire into Clay.

"There was also the wire transfer." Clay reminded him.

"That Opie didn't ask for." Jax spoke up. "He told you himself what happened, we all knew that Stahl was trying to pin stuff on us, so why didn't you believe your own club members and put your trust in an outsider?"

"I have to take every threat seriously, Jax." Clay said through gritted teeth.

"There's a difference between taking things seriously and outright trying to murder a member on little to no evidence, behind everyone's backs." Pixie spoke. "You're just trying to save face because you don't like looking bad."

Clay looked at Pixie, his eyes a glacial tundra. "You don't get to question my motives when you snooped and ratted." He pointed a finger at Pixie.

"I only snooped once because I was looking out for my brother! If I hadn't, Opie would have died at _your_ hands!" Pixie slammed her hands down on the table and stood up. "And I didn't rat either! Hale already knew and Unser's on the payroll."

"He isn't one of our own, you went to an outsider for help!" Clay stood up, staring her down, but Pixie stayed standing and glaring.

"I had to! You were the one that ordered a murder because of Stahl!" Pixie shouted back.

"I was manipulated by Stahl, we all were!" Clay frowned.

Pixie tipped her head back and let out a harsh laugh. "You're not the victim here, Clay, don't try that bollocks! Opie and Donna were the ones in trouble last night!"

"Are you blaming me, or Stahl, which is it?!" Clay barked at Pixie.

"Both!" Pixie fired back. "Yes, Stahl manipulated us, but you had every opportunity to listen to Opie and to the club! You saw the evidence we found, you've know Opie since he was a child! And yet you called in the hit, even when Tig, one of us that you trust the most had doubts, you pushed him to do something he didn't want to do! Take some responsibility here!"

Clay slammed his hand down angrily. "I am! I feel responsible for everything, okay? I was doing what I thought was right!"

"You should've brought it up to the club." Jax growled.

"I'm sorry, alright?" Clay said putting up his hands.

"You really fuckin' sound like a child caught red-handed." Pixie shook her head. "When are you going to fucking realise that we aren't toys? You can't just use us for your own gain and throw us out the pram when you aren't happy, we aren't going to get back up when you throw us down!"

"Don't speak to me like a child!"

"Well don't fucking act like one then! Your disregard for human life is scary, Clay. You have the morals of a spoilt brat!"

Clay's face was pure rage as he tried to stalk towards Pixie. Chibs and Tig jumped up immediately. Pixie threw herself towards Clay, but was manhandled by Piney and Juice.

"I am not a child!" Clay roared, with furious spittle, his face red as he tried to get past Tig and Chibs.

"You're an ignorant, narcissistic fucking twat!" Pixie fired back, losing her resolve and going ballistic in Piney's arms as juice tried to corral her hands. "That's what you are!"

"You're out of this club!" Clay roared.

"You'll have to kill me for these patches, asshole!" Pixie taunted.

" _ENOUGH_!" Chibs bellowed, silencing everyone. He pushed Clay forcibly back into his seat. "Siddown." Chibs growled at him before turning to Pixie. "You, outside, cool off!" Chibs pointed towards the door and Piney pushed Pixie towards it. Pixie stormed out, slamming the door closed behind her so hard it rattled in its frame.

"Meeting not going well?" Unser asked as he watched Pixie storm out of the clubhouse like the embodiment of a hurricane. Pixie didn't answer him flying out of the door and into the lot.

" _ASSHOLE_!" She bellowed at the top of her lungs. "Fucking asshole." She said feeling a little calmer but her head was still buzzing and she needed to get out her frustrations. Pixie swore again, kicking over the mop bucket and launching the sponge inside it off into the distance, watching it hit the cement with a wet squelch. Once Pixie felt better, she sat down on the step of the Clubhouse's porch looking down into the lot as she hugged her knees and focused on breathing, hearing Juice's voice in her mind. After a moment, Piney came outside. Pixie looked over her shoulder as he came out the door and smiled.

"Clay want my kutte?"

"And your head, but the guys are talkin' him down, sent me out to make sure you weren't setting fire to his bike or some shit." Piney said light-heartedly. He came to where Pixie was sat on the ground and heaved himself to the floor, wanting to be on her level. "Agree with what you said in there, Clay's behaviour- he's not the man I knew when we started this shit in the first place, that's for damned sure."

"What was he like back in the day?" Pixie asked, leaning against Piney.

"Not grey and senile. He actually had black hair if you can believe that." Piney smirked. They stayed silent for a moment as both focused on their breathing. Then Piney spoke up. "I, er, I want to thank you, kid. You and Jax, you've been Opie's fearless defenders, you both believed him right away and you fought for him. Even when there wasn't anybody in his corner when he got out of jail." Piney said, his voice choked. When Pixie turned her head up, there were tears in Piney's eyes, but he wasn't letting them fall.

"I love Opie, right from the beginning I felt a connection with him, we were two outsiders, looking in on Samcro, and I recognised his pain. He's my brother and I couldn't bear to have anything happen to him, or you for that matter." Pixie said truthfully, kissing Piney's cheek as she hugged him.

"We love you too, darlin'. You're this club's angel of anarchy."

The sound of a motorcycle gunning into the lot broke the pair apart and they looked up as Opie halted his bike, seeing them together. He got off and took off his helmet, his eyes wide.

"Pixie." He put his arms out as Pixie surged up from the floor and flung herself into his arms, her torrent of worry for him coming to a head as she cried into his shoulder as he hugged her so tightly she almost couldn't breathe, but she didn't care. Her brother was home, he was safe and he was alive.

"Opie!" Pixie sobbed, struggling to breathe and hanging on to Opie with every ounce of her being.

"I'm okay, I'm okay, sweetheart." He mumbled into her neck, just needing to feel her close. He readjusted his grip on Pixie so he could put an arm out for Piney who came to join the hug.

"Glad you're safe, son. I don't know what I'd have done if..." Piney trailed off, unable to speak as he clutched his only child, kissing Opie's temple in a rare show of affection.

"I know. The kids and Donna are still up in Lodi, she's treating them to a day out whilst I came back to deal with this shit storm." Opie said gruffly. "You guys been in a meeting?"

"Yeah." Pixie said as Opie reluctantly set her down so the three could go and sit on the bench. "I lost my shit with Clay and got sent out whilst the others read him the riot act or somethin'."

"Oh yeah? What'd you say?" Opie asked.

"I believe the phrase was 'ignorant, narcissistic fucking twat'." Jax said as he ambled out the door with a smirk.

"Sheesh, you don't hold back do ya'." Opie chuckled at Pixie before turning his attention to Jax. "Jax, brother." He stood up and the two of them hugged tightly before they let each other go and joined Pixie and Piney on the bench. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do know. How am I supposed to share a patch with Clay?" Opie exclaimed, his eyes wide and unnerved.

Pixie watched Jax as he settled himself and looked into Opie's eyes with a strong, comfortingly confident gaze as his VP side took over.

"Burden lands on the club, Ope. We all know it. Clay is Clay because of us. We made him."

Opie nodded, understanding what Jax was getting at. He turned to look back at Jax, his eyes dark. "Then how do we unmake him?"

Jax shook his head and stared at the ground, Pixie leaned over and rubbed his back. "I've been tryna figure that out." Jax admitted with a deep sigh. "But the one thing I know for sure is, I can't do it alone. I need you, bro, I need you guys."

"I'm here, man." Opie said firmly. "You got me." He got up and opened his arms for Jax to hug him.

"Me too." Pixie added putting up her hand, making the other men laugh.

"And me." Piney nodded too.

"You've got a good heart and a strong set of morals, Ope, the club needs that now, more than ever. If we lose what makes this club good, we're letting Clay, Stahl, and every other fuckin' bastard that tries to mess with us win." Pixie said fiercely.

Opie nodded his head. "Yeah, you're right. I want Stahl dead for framing me and almost murdering me and or my wife. And I want to wipe that smirk off of Clay's face. He's just as guilty."

"We can make those demands." Jax agreed. "After church, I got somethin' I want you to read."

"I'll look at it." Opie agreed. "So what do we do now?"

"We go back in there, we sit down and we get an apology from Clay, and get him to admit to everything he's done behind our backs." Jax told them.

"We should sort the witness stuff too." Pixie added. "Sooner we get Bobby out the better."

"Agreed." Jax sad, pulling Pixie to her feet and tucking her under his arm. "A'ight. We ready?"

"Yup." Opie nodded as Piney got to his feet too. The group followed Jax back in and took their places once more, the other men cheered and welcomed back Opie before the room fell back into a dull, tense silence.

"Well?" Clay asked, looking to Jax.

"Do you even realise how bad this looks?" Jax spoke up. "You're First Nine, Clay, you're supposed to be the example that everyone else in every charter across the country, in Canada, Ireland and in England follows."

Clay hung his head. "I know."

"We want you to admit to everything, to apologise to Ope, and to Piney, then you're gonna swear not to do shit without the club's knowledge and agree to any demands Opie has." Jax announced. "We collectively agreed that due to the club's troubles, the impending war, and the fact we need need to help Bobby and get the club back on it's feet again, we're willing to let you keep your patches." Jax announced looking to everyone to make sure they still agreed. "However, our trust in you has been shaken, we're willing to trust again, but if we find out you've lied to us, done somethin' behind our backs, or you try and take another one of us out," Jax looked at Clay darkly, his face fierce and cold, "we will not hesitate to take you down." Jax let his words sink in. Clay looked shaken and Pixie couldn't help but feel smug, seeing Clay realise his hold on the club was slipping due to his own actions. "Do we have a deal?" Jax asked.

Clay looked at everyone before looking back at Jax. "Deal it is. When I got this patch," Clay said thumbing his president's patch, "I swore to protect this club, and to protect each and every one of you. I will continue to do that, and I won't let you guys down again." Clay said compassionately. Pixie wasn't so sure, but held her tongue. "What can I do to make this right with you, Opie." Clay looked to Ope who straightened himself in his chair a little, toying with the cigarette in his hand.

"I want a round with you in the ring, and I want to be the one to shoot Stahl when the time comes." Opie said looking to Clay.

"That boxing match can't be about death or a grudge match. Last thing we need is for you to feel worse should Clay win." Jax reminded him.

"Nobody's gonna win from that." Opie grunted. "But it's the only way I'm gonna be able to trust and to move forward."

"I'll do it." Clay nodded, sitting back in his chair, surprising everyone. "And I'll let you have your time with Stahl when we send that bitch back to hell."

"Thank you." Opie nodded. "That's all I ask."

"Good." Clay gave a small smile to him. "Anything I can do for you, Piney, I'll do it too."

"If Opie's happy, then I'll agree." Piney shrugged before his eyes went deadly. "Though if you hurt my family again, the last thing you'll be seeing is my shotgun barrel."

"Understandable." Clay sympathised.

"Okay, is everyone agreed then?" Jax said slowly, checking everyone's faces. When no one objected, he continued. "A'ight. It's done. Next thing we wanted to tackle was the ambush yesterday."

"I'll come clean." Clay put his hands up. "I was doing what I thought would be good for the club, but the Niners had other plans."

"I told you they'd be pissed." Pixie frowned. "Bobby did too, and Juice."

"I should have listened." Clay said, resigned. "I know, next time, I will."

"We have no security and no weapons." Tig spoke up. "How do we fix that?"

"I'm looking into it, as soon as I have a plan, I will bring it up." Clay assured him. "I'm sorry for how it all went down."

"Unless we communicate, we can't move forward." Jax stated. "You put me in this position, VP, for a reason, and if you don't tell me what's going down, I can't help you."

"I put you all at risk. I will make this right, son." Clay said firmly.

"A'ight." Jax nodded with the others. "We'll put that to bed, agreed?"

"Aye." Chibs spoke up, with the others giving their little acknowledgements.

"Next thing, the witness." Jax said.

"Rosen's gonna be coming down this morning to give us an update on Bobby." Clay added. "That whole case on Bobby and Opie is that witness, without them, they got nothin'."

"So we got to get to her." Tig nodded.

"As in kill her?" Juice said, startled.

"She's a rat." Tig answered.

"She's seventeen!" Juice spoke up.

"What?" Tig's brow furrowed.

" _All_ evidence firmly points to Equiva Michaels. Pixie and Piney found her information, and Unser confirmed it." Juice said. "All info I could find on her, all state the same thing, she's a seventeen-year-old girl."

"What?" Clay raised his eyebrows.

"Holy shit." Jax breathed.

Pixie took out Equiva's employee profile from her pocket, unfolding it and passing it to Juice who slid it across to Jax and then to Clay. "I kept trying to show you this thing, but you weren't interested." Pixie grumbled to Clay. "Right there, she's seventeen." Clay read the sheet properly for the first time, passing it to Tig. "Piney found an ATF business card in her room, she'll be in WitPro."

"WitPro means safe house. Twenty-four-hour protection." Jax added.

"That's a dead end." Chibs said defeatedly.

"It can't be." Clay growled. "Ope can't go back to prison, his kids need him."

Pixie actually had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing at the hypocrisy of Clay's words, he'd wanted Opie dead and hadn't cared about his kids last night, but now was having such a sudden change of heart now he'd been called out about it. Pixie saw Opie was having much the same thoughts, by the way he caught her eyes and gave a slow shake of his head and an eye roll which the others didn't catch.

"Let's not forget Bobby." Tig spoke up. "He got ID-ed."

"We gotta figure this shit out before the trial." Jax shook his head. "No way Samcro's killing a teenager, she didn't know what she was doing. She's just tangled up." Jax growled. "We need to talk her out of it or get her to leave."

"Pixie spoke to Tristen and we got answers that way." Clay suddenly spoke up, Pixie blinked in surprise at Clay's sudden acknowledgement of her capabilities. "We get her in, we could stand a strong chance of talkin' the witness down."

"Equiva won't go unless we have something to offer her, she has nothing to her name." Pixie explained.

"What if we give her a new one?" Juice suggested. "I can get new ID's, birth certificates, and anything else she needs before the trial." Juice looked to the others. "I perfected my system after having to get stuff for both Pixie and Cherry-now-Charlie."

"Do it." Pixie nodded. "I got that emergency bank account, I can give her the card, get her set up somewhere, or we can wire it to a new one."

"I can do that too." Juice nodded.

"She can have the blue sedan." Half-Sack offered. "Charlie and I were just gonna sell it, but if it helps get her the heck out of here, then I'm all for that."

"I can do the car papers, that's no biggie." Juice smiled, feeling useful. "If we get the case number, Trammel can find the location of roughly where the safe house could be."

"Good, good." Clay nodded.

"You think you could find the safe house?" Jax asked him.

"With that information, yeah, easy." Juice said confidently.

"How do we know how to storm it?" Tig asked.

"That's my forte" Happy suddenly spoke up with a dark grin. "I know _all_ about 'em."

"Well that's alarming." Juice said with an eyebrow raised.

"I want a flawless plan. No mistakes. This club can't take any more." Clay ordered, feeling more secure.

"We can do that." Tig agreed, looking to Jax, Juice, Pixie and Happy.

"Alright. Everyone agreed?" Clay announced. The Sons all raised their hands, with new determination on their faces as they looked to the future. Things were nowhere near healed, but there was a strong sense of support and family in the room. Pixie looked around at the familiar faces of everyone seated there. She'd come to this club all those long and arduous months ago seeking new beginnings, but what she found was acceptance, love, and kindness from the unlikeliest of places.

Clay banged the gavel down.

** -The End- **

**☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ ☠️☠️**

****


	89. Epilogue

The Sons sat around the bar drinking and talking as Tig leant against the wall, watching Opie as he laughed with Pixie and Jax, the three of them closer than ever. Something wasn't sitting right in Tig's gut and he took a swig of his beer before striding over to the group at the table.

"Hey, man, can I have a word?" He looked to Opie who shrugged and got up. Following Tig into Church, he shut the door behind them and turned to see Tig shifting his weight from foot to foot, tense and nervous.

"Wassup?" Opie asked standing opposite Tig who looked away and then back at Opie, who was surprised to see tears in Tig's eyes.

"I didn't want to hurt you, man, or Donna." Tig said, unusually quiet. "Even when I thought you were a rat. I could never do that to you. I was supposed to, at the doll warehouse, then you saved my life and when I saw your face, I-I couldn't pull the trigger. I love you, man, and if you hate me or feel betrayed, I'll make it up to you, I'll make it right."

Opie's eyes went round in shock and surprise. He looked down, trying to gather his words. "I don't blame you, Trager, same way you can't blame a gun when someone pulls the trigger, and in this case, Clay and Stahl were the ones to do it. You weren't gonna do it, and you didn't want to do it, even before Pixie intervened."

"I still messed up, I should've believed you." Tig insisted.

"Those bugs and the wire were convincing, I knew there would be trouble as soon as Stahl told me what she was up to. It bothers me that I wasn't believed, but at the same time, I can't say what I would've done if I were in your boots." Opie explained quietly.

"How do we move past this?" Tig asked him.

"Does it look like I have a clue?" Opie chuckled. "New territory for everyone."

Tig nodded, trying to think. "How 'bout you punch me?"

Opie's eyebrows disappeared into his beanie. "What? You want me to hit you?"

"Would it make you feel better?"

"Well yeah, but..." Opie trailed off, watching as Tig put down his beer bottle and put his hands behind his back.

"Do it." Tig nodded. "I want to make this right."

Opie took off his rings on his right hand, then hauled back and threw a punch into Tig's face. Tig's head jerked to the side with the impact and Opie shook out his hand, watching as Tig turned back to smile at Opie, there was blood pouring out of Tig's nose and his teeth were red.

"Love you, brother." Tig said sincerely. Opie opened his arms and they collided with each other in a strong embrace, holding tight for a moment before Opie put his arm around Tig's shoulders.

"Love you too, you're a crazy bastard, you know that, right?"

"Oh yeah." Tig chuckled as they opened the door, going out into the hall.

Pixie was waiting there with her first aid kit, rolling her eyes playfully. "Neanderthals."

☠️☠️☠️

Pixie stood on the roof of the clubhouse watching the Sons down below. Clay and Opie were in the ring, starting up their match to help Opie whilst the others crowded around, cheering Opie on as he punched and fought with Clay. Pixie wondered if Opie had thought about the fact that Clay's hands could worsen with each blow he gave. If Opie knew he was speeding up the arthritis' advances in Clay's hands, and in turn, speeding up the countdown to the day Clay would no longer be able to ride. Opie was smart, Pixie thought he definitely had to know what he was doing. Opie was lot smarter than Clay gave him credit for, Pixie decided. She looked up at the California blue sky, her mind drifting to the future of the club, where it was heading and how they'd cope with it. Pixie could feel trouble on the horizon, but for now, things were looking a little more stable. A song came to mind and Pixie smiled, shrugging off her kutte and putting her earphones in and scrolling through Juice's song lists on his Ipod she borrowed, finding what she was looking for. Pixie began to dance to the tune, spreading out her arms like a crow's and turning around, doing little hops and skips along the walk-way as she sang.

" _That's life, that's what all the people say, you're riding high in April, you're shot down in May, I know I'm gonna change that tune, when I'm back on top in June..._ "

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ ☠️☠️

Frank Sinatra ukulele cover by Reneé Dominique:

<https://youtu.be/_M97PtmgJ2U>


	90. Author's Note!

When I started writing this book in December 2019, I had no idea that this was the journey it was going to take. What started off as something that I wrote to keep my mind occupied as I recovered from an illness, quickly snowballed into what you've read and hopefully enjoyed. 

I am beyond happy to see that people have fallen in love with Pixie and the storyline as much as I have, and every time I get a notification that someone has commented or left Kudos, I can't help but squeal in excitement! I want to thank each and every person who's given this book a chance and has sat down to read, leave Kudos and comment. You all are lovely people and I hope this story has met your expectations.

For those of you who are interested, Pixie is not over yet! I will be releasing book two's very first chapter soon, so make sure you've bookmarked it! <3


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